employee motivation

1.1Employee Motivation

Introduction

An issue which usually generates a great deal of attention from most managers,
administrators and those involved in Human Resources Management is the issue of
how to successfully motivate employee. While it is true that aspects like staff
recruitment, controlling, managing, leading, and many more are of great importance
to the success of an organization, Employee Motivation is generally considered a core
element in running a successful business.

In the organizational setting the word ―Motivation‖ is used to describe the drive
thatimpels an individual to work. A truly motivated person is one who ―wants‖
towork .Both employees and employers are interested in understanding motivation
if employees know what strengthens and what weakens their motivation, they
canoften perform more effectively to find more satisfaction in their job. Employers
wantto know what motivates their employees so that they can get them to work
harder.Theconcept of motivation implies that people choose the path of action they
follow.When behavioral scientists use the word motivation, they think of its
somethingsteaming from within the person technically, the term motivation has its
origin inthe Latin word ―mover‖ which means ―to move‖. Thus the word motivation
standsfor movement. If a manager truly understands his subordinate‘s motivation, he
can channel their―inner state‖ towards command goals, i.e., goals, shared by both the
individual andthe organization. It is a well known fact that human beings have great
potential butthey do not use it fully, when motivation is absent. Motivation factor are
thosewhich make people give more than a fair day‘s work and that is usually only
aboutsixty-five percent of a person‘s capacity .Obviously , every manager should
bereleasing hundred percent of an individual‘s to maximize performance for
achievingorganizational goals and at the same to enable the individual to develop
hispotential and gain satisfaction. Thus every manager should have both interest
andconcern about how to enable people to perform task willingly and to the best
of their ability.At one time, employees were considered just another input into the

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production of goods and services. What perhaps changed this way of thinking about
employeeswas research, referred to as the Hawthorne Studies, conducted by Elton
Mayo from1924 to 1932 This study found employees are not motivated solelyby
money and employee behavior is linked to their attitudes.

TheHawthorne Studies began the human relations approach to management,
wherebythe needs and motivation of employees become the primary focus of
managers.

1.2Definition of Motivation

 Motivation is a process that starts with a physiological or psychological
deficiency or need that activates behavior or a drive that aimed at a goal or an
incentive.
 "The only way to get people to like working hard is to motivate them. Today,
people must understand why they're working hard. Every individual in an
organization is motivated by something different." -Rick Pitino
 ―Employee motivation is a reflection of the level of energy, commitment, and
creativity that a company's workers bring to their jobs.‖
 "Psychological forces that determine the direction of a person's behavior in an
organization, a person's level of effort and a person's level of persistence."- G.
Jones and J. George from the book "Contemporary Management."

Basics about Motivation

1. Motivating employees starts with motivating yourself it‘s amazing how, if you
hate your job, it seems like everyone else does, too. If you are very stressed
out, it seems like everyone else is, too. Enthusiasm is contagious. If you're
enthusiastic about your job, it's much easier for others to be, too. Also,
if you‘re doing a good job of taking care of yourself and your own job, you'll
have much clearer perspective on how others are doing in theirs. A great place
to start learning about motivation is to start understanding your own
motivations. The key to helping to motivate your employees is to understand
what motivates them. So what motivates you? Consider, for example, time
with family, recognition, a job well done, service, learning, etc. How your job
is configured to support your own motivations? What can you do to better
motivate yourself?

2. Always work to align goals of the organization with goals of employees as
mentioned above, employees can be all fired up about their work and be
working very hard. However, if the results of their work don't contribute to the

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goals of the organization, then the organization is not any better off than if the
employees were sitting on their hands -- maybe worse off! Therefore, it's
critical that managers and supervisors know what they want from their
employees. These preferences should be worded in terms of goals for the
organization. Identifying the goals for the organization is usually done during
strategic planning. Whatever steps you take to support the motivation of your
employees (various steps are suggested below), ensure that employees have
strong input to identifying their goals and that these goals are aligned with
goals of the organization. (Goals should be worded to be ―SMARTER".

3. Key to supporting the motivation of your employees understands what
motivates each of them each person is motivated by different things. Whatever
steps you take to support the motivation of your employees, they should first
include finding out what it is that really motivates each of your employees.
You can find this out by asking them, listening to them and observing them.

4. Recognize that supporting employee motivation is a process, not at ask
Organizations change all the time, as do people. Indeed, it is an ongoing
process to sustain an environment where each employee can strongly motivate
themselves. If you look at sustaining employee motivation as an ongoing
process, then you'll be much more fulfilled and motivated yourself.

5. Support employee motivation by using organizational systems (for example,
policies and procedures)--don't just count on good intentions don‘t just count
on cultivating strong interpersonal relationships with employees to help
motivate them. The nature of these relationships can change greatly, for
example, during times of stress. Instead, use reliable and comprehensive
systems in the workplace to help motivate employees.

For example, establish compensation systems, employee performance systems,
organizational policies and procedures, etc., to support employee motivation. Also,
establishing various systems and structures helps ensure clear understanding and
equitable treatment of employees.

1.3 Importance of Motivation
Motivation is a very important for an organization because of the following benefits it
provides:-

 Puts human resources into action

Every concern requires physical, financial and human resources to accomplish the
goals. It is through motivation that the human resources can be utilized by making full
use of it. This can be done by building willingness in employees to work. This will
help the enterprise in securing best possible utilization of resources.

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 Improves level of efficiency of employees

The level of a subordinate or a employee does not only depend upon his qualifications
and abilities. For getting best of his work performance, the gap between ability and
willingness has to be filled which helps in improving the level of performance of
subordinates. This will result into-

 Increase in productivity,
 Reducing cost of operations, and
 Improving overall efficiency.

Leads to achievement of organizational goals

The goals of an enterprise can be achieved only when the following factors take place
:-

 There is best possible utilization of resources,
 There is a co-operative work environment,
 The employees are goal-directed and they act in a purposive manner,
 Goals can be achieved if co-ordination and co-operation takes place
simultaneously which can be effectively done through motivation.

 Buildsfriendly relationship

Motivation is an important factor which brings employees satisfaction. This can be
done by keeping into mind and framing an incentive plan for the benefit of the
employees. This could initiate the following things:

 Monetary and non-monetary incentives,
 Promotion opportunities for employees,
 Disincentives for inefficient employees.

In order to build a cordial, friendly atmosphere in a concern, the above steps should
be taken by a manager. This would help in:

 Effective co-operation which brings stability,
 Industrial dispute and unrest in employees will reduce,
 The employees will be adaptable to the changes and there will be no resistance
to the change,
 This will help in providing a smooth and sound concern in which individual
interests will coincide with the organizational interests,
 This will result in profit maximization through increased productivity.

 Leadsto stability of work force

Stability of workforce is very important from the point of view of reputation and
goodwill of a concern. The employees can remain loyal to the enterprise only when
they have a feeling of participation in the management. The skills and efficiency of

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employees will always be of advantage to employees as well as employees. This will
lead to a good public image in the market which will attract competent and qualified
people into a concern. As it is said, ―Old is gold‖ which suffices with the role of
motivation here, the older the people, more the experience and their adjustment into a
concern which can be of benefit to the enterprise.

1.4What motivates employees?

Every person has a different reason for going to work. These reasons are as individual
as whichever person you may ask. But all of the reasons for working share a common
thread. We all obtain something from work we need.

There is much discussion about the value of extrinsic motivation (monetary and other
material rewards) versus intrinsic motivation where people re driven by what‘s inside
them. not by the trappings of success.

Whereas I recognize how critical extrinsic motivation is–we all need to be rewarded
fairly for the job that we do-in my experience the most effective factors relating to
employee motivation are related to intrinsic motivation:

1. Empowerment: Feeling trusted and empowered is a tremendous motivator.

2. Growth: Feeling that they are growing and developing personally

3. Inclusion: ‗To belong‘ is a fundamental need, whether as a member of a family,
peer group, network, team or company. It‘s human nature to want to be on the inside,
not the outside.

4. Purpose: Today people care more about what happens tomorrow, and want to
contribute to ensuring the future of our children, and the health of our communities
and planet.

5. Trust: the fabric that holds it all together and makes it real.

Framework of motivation

The framework comprises six steps:-

1) Motivation process begins with the individual‘s needs. Needs are
teltdeprivations which the individual experiences at a given time and act as
energizers. These needs may be psychological (e.g., the needs for recognition),
physiological (e.g., the needs for water, air or foods) or social (e.g., the needs
for friendship).
2) Motivation is goal directed.
3) A goal is a specific result that the individual wants to achieve. Anemployee‘s
goal are often driving forces and accomplishing those goals cansignificantly
reduce needs.

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4) Promotions and raises are two of the ways that organizations seek tomaintain
desirable behavior. They are signals to employees that their needs
foradvancement and recognition and their behaviors are appropriate.
5) Once the employee have received either rewards or punishments.
6) They reassess their needs.

The Role of Motivation:

Why do we need motivated employees?

The answer is survival. Motivated employees are needed in our rapidly changing
workplaces. Motivatedemployees help organizations survive. Motivated employees
are more productive. To be effective, managers need to understand what motivates
employees within thecontext of the roles they perform. Of all the functions a manager
performs, motivating employees is arguably the most complex. This is due, in part, to
the factthat what motivates employee‘s changes constantly. For example, research
suggests that as employees' income increases, moneybecomes less of a motivator
(Kovach, 1987). Also, as employees get older,interesting work becomes more of a
motivator.

Mechanism of motivation
Motivation is the process that starts with physiological or psychological deficiency
orneed that activate behavior or a drive that is aimed at a goal or incentive.

The following diagram depicts the motivation process.

Mechanism of Motivation

Needs Drives Goal

Deprivation Deprivation Reduction

With of Drives

Direction

Thus, the key to understanding motivation lies in the meaning of, and
relationshipbetween needs, drives and goals Needs: Needs are created whenever there
is a physiological or psychologicalimbalance For example: A need exists when cells
in the body are deprived of foodand water or when the personality is deprived of other
people who serve friends orcompanions. Although psychological may be based on a
deficiency, sometimes theyare not. For instant, and individuals with a strong need to
get ahead may have ahistory of consistent success·Drives: ―Drives (Or motives) are
set up to alleviate needs. Psychological needs canbe simply defined as a deficiency
with direction. Physiological or psychologicaldrives are action – oriented and provide
energizing thrust towards reaching anincentive or goals. They are at the very heart of
the motivational process. Theneeds for food and water are translated into hunger and

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thrust drives, and the needfor friend becomes a drives affiliation. Thus, drive is a
psychological state whichmoves an individual satisfying need· Goals: At the end of
the motivational cycle is the goal or incentive. It is anythingthat wills that will
alleviate a need and reduce a drive. Thus, attaining a goal willtend to restore
physiological or psychological balance and will reduce or cut off thedrive. Eating
food, drinking water and obtaining friends will tend to restore thebalance and reduce
the corresponding drives food, water and friends are theincentive are the goals in this
example.

1.5Types of Motivation
There are many types of motivation.

Motivational techniques have been experienced by every person from birth. We learn
behavior through motivation. We live our whole lives because of motivation. The
question that remains however is this: What motivation should a person have? This is
important because our motivation decides our behavior. Some types of motivation are
more effective than others. However, the perfect motivation for you can only be
decided by one person: YOU .

Why do people do what they do? Why do we go on everyday, living our lives and
trying to find justification for our existence? Some people think that they can find
purpose in the things that motivate them. Others just see the motivation and react
automatically.

There is no one thing that motivates people to perform certain actions. People are
different, so it follows that their motivations have to be different. Here are some types
of motivation :

 Achievement –

This is the motivation of a person to attain goals. The longing for achievement is
inherent in every man, but not all persons look to achievement as their motivation.
They are motivated by a goal. In order to attain that goal, they are willing to go as far
as possible. The complexity of the goal is determined by a person's perception.

To us, the terms "simple" and "complex" are purely relative. What one person thinks
is an easy goal to accomplish may seem to be impossible to another person. However,
if your motivation is achievement, you will find that your goals will grow increasingly
complex as time goes by .

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 Socialization –

Some people consider socialization to be their main motivation for actions. This is
especially evident in the situation of peer pressure. Some people are willing to do
anything to be treated as an equal within a group structure. The idea of being accepted
among a group of people is their motivation for doing certain things.

 Incentive motivation –

This motivation involves rewards. People who believe that they will receive rewards
for doing something are motivated to do everything they can to reach a certain goal.
While achievement motivation is focused on the goal itself, incentive motivation is
driven by the fact that the goal will give people benefits. Incentive motivation is used
in companies through bonuses and other types of compensation for additional work.

By offering incentives, companies hope to raise productivity and motivate their
employees to work harder .

 Fear motivation –

When incentives do not work, people often turn to fear and punishment as the next
tools. Fear motivation involves pointing out various consequences if someone does
not follow a set of prescribed behavior. This is often seen in companies as working
hand-in-hand with incentive motivation. Workers are often faced with a reward and
punishment system, wherein they are given incentives if they accomplish a certain
goal, but they are given punishments when they disobey certain policies.

 Change motivation-

Sometimes people do things just to bring about changes within their immediate
environment. Change motivation is often the cause of true progress. People just
become tired of how things are and thus, think of ways to improve it.

 Natural Motivations-

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Motivation is the most common type of motivation and happens the most often. It is
the motivation people get when naturally motivated.

 Fear motivations-

Fear Motivation happens often within the workforce when under pressure to complete
a task.

 Booster motivations-

Booster Motivations is normally selfdriven to overcome a task you have set yourself.

1.6Methods of Motivation

There are as many different methods of motivating employees today as there are
companies operating in the global business environment. Still, some strategies are
prevalent across all organizations striving to improve employee motivation. The best
employee motivation efforts will focus on what the employees deem to be important.
It may be that employees within the same department of the same organization will
have different motivators. Many organizations today find that flexibility in job design
and reward systems has resulted in employees' increased longevity with the company,
improved productivity, and better morale.

 Empowerment - Giving employees more responsibility and decision-making
authority increases their realm of control over the tasks for which they are held
responsible and better equips them to carry out those tasks. As a result,
feelings of frustration arising from being held accountable for something one
does not have the resources to carry out are diminished. Energy is diverted
from self-preservation to improved task accomplishment.

 Creativity And Innovation - At many companies, employees with creative
ideas do not express them to management for fear that their input will be
ignored or ridiculed. Company approval and toeing the company line have
become so ingrained in some working environments that both the employee
and the organization suffer. When the power to create in the organization is
pushed down from the top to line personnel, employees who know a job,
product, or service best are given the opportunity to use their ideas to improve
it. The power to create motivates employees and benefits the organization in
having a more flexible work force, using more wisely the experience of its
employees, and increasing the exchange of ideas and information among

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employees and departments. These improvements also create an openness to
change that can give a company the ability to respond quickly to market
changes and sustain a first mover advantage in the marketplace.

 Learning - If employees are given the tools and the opportunities to
accomplish more, most will take on the challenge. Companies can motivate
employees to achieve more by committing to perpetual enhancement of
employee skills. Accreditation and licensing programs for employees are an
increasingly popular and effective way to bring about growth in employee
knowledge and motivation. Often, these programs improve employees'
attitudes toward the client and the company, while bolstering self-confidence.
Supporting this assertion, an analysis of factors which influence motivation-to-
learn found that it is directly related to the extent to which training participants
believe that such participation will affect their job or career utility. In other
words, if the body of knowledge gained can be applied to the work to be
accomplished, then the acquisition of that knowledge will be a worthwhile
event for the employee and employer.

 Quality Of Life - The number of hours worked each week by American
workers is on the rise, and many families have two adults working those
increased hours. Under these circumstances, many workers are left wondering
how to meet the demands of their lives beyond the workplace. Often, this
concern occurs while at work and may reduce an employee's productivity and
morale.

Companies that have instituted flexible employee arrangements have gained
motivated employees whose productivity has increased. Programs incorporating
flextime, condensed workweeks, or job sharing, for example, have been successful in
focusing overwhelmed employees toward the work to be done and away from the
demands of their private lives. All motivation ultimately comes from within a person.

 Monetary Incentive - For all the championing of alternative motivators,
money still occupies a major place in the mix of motivators. The sharing of a
company's profits gives incentive to employees to produce a quality product,
perform a quality service, or improve the quality of a process within the
company. What benefits the company directly benefits the employee.
Monetary and other rewards are being given to employees for generating cost-
savings or process-improving ideas, to boost productivity and reduce
absenteeism. Money is effective when it is directly tied to an employee's ideas
or accomplishments. Nevertheless, if not coupled with other, nonmonetary
motivators, its motivating effects are short-lived. Further, monetary incentives
can prove counterproductive if not made available to all members of the
organization.

 Other Incentives - Study after study has found that the most effective
motivators of workers are nonmonetary. Monetary systems are insufficient

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motivators, in part because expectations often exceed results and because
disparity between salaried individuals may divide rather than unite employees.
Proven nonmonetary positive motivators foster team spirit and include
recognition, responsibility, and advancement. Managers, who recognize the
"small wins" of employees, promote participatory environments, and treat
employees with fairness and respect will find their employees to be more
highly motivated. One company's managers brainstormed to come up with 30
powerful rewards that cost little or nothing to implement. The most effective
rewards, such as letters of commendation and time off from work, enhanced
personal fulfillment and self-respect. Over the longer term, sincere praise and
personal gestures are far more effective and more economical than awards of
money alone. In the end, a program that combines monetary reward systems
and satisfies intrinsic, self-actualizing needs may be the most potent employee
motivator.

1.7Factors for Lack of Motivation in the Workplace
A drop in staff motivation can become contagious if the cause is not identified and
addressed. Management needs to be conscious of employee motivation, and that
means being able to identify the factors that cause a lack of motivation in the
workplace. Become familiar with the factors that can degrade staff motivation and
design plans to combat these productivity killers.

Rumors

The important thing to remember about rumors is that they are not always wrong.
Some rumors have basis in fact, but that does not make them good for employee
morale. An employee that hears a rumor that she may be laid off experiences an
instant drop in motivation. To deal with the problem of rumors in the workplace, it is
important for management to share important information with the staff in a timely
manner. This helps employees to feel confident that management will address rumors
and encourages staff members to wait on information from the company before acting
on a rumor.

Inadequate Job Skills

Employees are motivated to succeed at jobs for which they feel prepared and properly
trained. Before moving an employee into a position of greater responsibility or before
allowing any changes to an employee's job duties, be certain that employee has had
the training needed to get started. Putting an employee in a position where she feels
she has inadequate job skills will erode the employee's confidence and stifle any
motivation to succeed.

Goal Flaws

Employees are not motivated by the notion that their hard work will make company
owners and executives rich, the more internalized a company's goals sound, the less
motivated employees are to fulfill those goals. The company needs to focus on the
customer and give employees a chance to feel as though it has done something
substantial to help the customer. For example, develop a referral program that

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encourages customers that have recently purchased products to recommend other
people that your sales professionals can call on. The company and sales staff benefit
from the increase in business, but the sales staff also gets to see the appreciation of
past clients in the form of potential new business.

Overwork

Employees that are overworked are likely to lose motivation regardless of how much
overtime pay they are receiving. If you know a period is coming where extra hours
will need to be worked, develop a schedule in advance and give your employees
ample warning so they can make preparations in their personal life. Make sure the
staff schedule still allows employees to spend time with their families and get away
from the stress of working too much.

1.8Techniques of Employee Motivation

Here are some motivations techniques that will help to get staff re-energised and
engaged at work. To begin with, make sure you have the right conditions in place so
that your work culture supports motivation.

Make sure you offer:

√ Fair pay and conditions

√ A comfortable, safe, working environment

√ Opportunities for employees to socialize and make friends

√ clearly defined work responsibilities and goals

√ Education and training opportunities

√ Career opportunities

As a manager, you play a key role in building on a solid foundation and motivating
employees. Remember that 70% of people leave their boss, not the company.

So what can you do to make sure that employees are switched on at work?

Here are some practical motivation techniques that you can use to improve motivation
in your workplace:

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1. Treat Employees as Individuals

Do you make assumptions about what motivates your employees? Some are likely to
be career focused, but others may see their work as a place to make friends and earn
money.Find out what motivates employees outside of work. Some enjoy a challenge
such as a sporting activity; others may like to be on committees so they can use their
organizational skills. Use their innate talents in the workplace where possible to keep
them motivated. Set goals which stretch their abilities. Make goals SMART - specific,
measurable, achievable, relevant and timeframed.

Treat Employees with Respect

Get to know your employees on a personal level, and offer support when needed, even
if it is only to listen to their concerns.Ask your employees for their opinions where
possible, for example if you are changing systems or introducing new equipment.
Being involved in decision making is one of the best motivation techniques.Catch
your employees doing something well and praise them - and if you do this in front of
others, it makes the employee feel even better. Giving employees recognition for their
efforts will motivate them to repeat the process.

Provide Opportunities for Employee Learning and Development

Encourage a learning climate, through structured on-the-job training programmes, job
transfers, inter-disciplinary projects and support for further education. Aim to have
your employees constantly learning new skills and gaining new knowledge. This will
reduce the level of stagnation that can easily occur in a business.Promote from within
where feasible - and invest the time and support in developing employees so they can
take on new opportunities.Some managers worry that by offering a high level of
training to employees, they may leave the business for better opportunities elsewhere.
Remember this allows other employees to rise up and take their place! Also the word
will spread that you are a good employer - which may encourage a higher caliber of
external job applicants.

Make the Workplace a Fun Place

Having fun is one of the best motivation techniques. And small things can make all
the difference..

√ bringing sweets to team meetings

√ sharing non-business news through e.g. newsletters

√ arranging activities such as lunchtime yoga sessions

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√ surprising employees with a birthday cake

√ asking the employees for their opinion on what would make the workplace a fun
place!

Morale Boosters

Measuring Morale

There's only one way to know how good morale really is in your company: ask the
people who work there.

Street Smarts: The Tournament

Morale took a real beating this fall. But there's nothing that lifts the spirits like
some friendly competition.

Revving Up the "P" Word (Productivity)

Though productivity is often defined in numbers, it relies very heavily upon people
and their attitudes.

Leading in Hard Times

CEOs offer 10 tips for leading your company through bleak times.

Non-Cash Incentives

Low-Cost Ways to Build Employee Commitment

Consider the power of the five I's.

It Takes More than Pay to Keep Good Workers

Companies are finding a number of ways to expand responsiveness and flexibility
beyond traditional compensation programs to retain top employees.

Incentives for All Generations

The one-size-fits-all approach no longer suits today's multigenerational workplaces.
Check this list of desired perks for mature workers, baby boomers, Gen Xers, and
more.

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Winter Holiday Rewards

The hectic holiday season is the time to show off a well-thought-out reward strategy
that helps yourworkforce stay motivated and focused.

Perks You Can Afford

In this classic Inc. article, take a look at some unique employee benefits that can help
you create an environment your workers won't want to leave.

Motivation by Compensation

Trust but VerifyIn addition to providing valuable information on the company's 20
restaurants, the Noodles & Co. secret shopper program is used as a motivational tool.

The Store that Stark Built

Not only does every employee at Debra's Natural Gourmet have a management role,
in a move unheard of in retail, profits are shared amongst the team.

In a Former Life: Alan Schultz

This CEO learned a valuable lesson during his past life as a steelworker: A company
should compensate its sales force based on fair and reachable short-term goals.

Hands On: Showing Up

Are your workers not in the habit of showing up every day? Try instituting a bonus
system to encourage perfect attendance.

Turn Motivation Inside Out

Inside sales teams often go unrecognized and unrewarded. To motivate them and
build a winning sales team all around, reward sales support staffers with commissions,
too.

Goals, Roles, Pay, and Performance

If you've promised goal-based compensation, you need to clearly communicate roles,
goals, and paths; otherwise, you may end up with disgruntled employees.

Turbo charger Your Bonus Plan

Take a regular bonus plan and add a kicker—an increase in the payout if certain
targets are met.

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1.9Theories of Motivation

Overview

At a simple level, it seems obvious that people do things, such as go to work, in order
to get stuff they want and to avoid stuff they don't want. Why exactly they want what
they do and don't want what they don't is still something a mystery. It's a black box
and it hasn't been fully penetrated.

Overall, the basic perspective on motivation looks something like this:

In other words, you have certain needs or wants (these terms will be used
interchangeably), and this causes you to do certain things (behavior), which satisfy
those needs (satisfaction), and this can then change which needs/wants are primary
(either intensifying certain ones, or allowing you to move on to other ones).

A variation on this model, particularly appropriate from an experimenter's or
manager's point of view, would be to add a box labeled "reward" between "behavior"
and "satisfaction". So that subjects (or employees), who have certain needs do certain
things (behavior), which then get them rewards set up by the experimenter or manager
(such as raises or bonuses), which satisfy the needs, and so on.

Theories of Motivation are as follows:-

Aldermen’s ERG theory

Adorer classifies needs into three categories, also ordered hierarchically:

growth needs (development of competence and realization of potential)
relatedness needs (satisfactory relations with others)
existence needs (physical well-being)

This is very similar to Maslow -- can be seen as just collapsing into three tiers. But
maybe a bit more rational. For example, in Adorer‘s model, sex does not need to be in
the bottom category as it is in Maslow's model, since it is not crucial to (the
individual's) existence. (Remember, this about individual motivation, not species'
survival.) So by moving sex, this theory does not predict that people have to have sex
before they can think about going to school, like Maslow's theory does.

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Adorer believed that as you start satisfying higher needs, they become more intense
(e.g., the power you get the more you want power), like an addiction.

Do any of these theories have anything useful to say for managing businesses? Well,
if true, they suggest that

Not everyone is motivated by the same things. It depends where you are in the
hierarchy (think of it as a kind of personal development scale)
The needs hierarchy probably mirrors the organizational hierarchy to a certain
extent: top managers are more likely to motivated by self-actualization/growth
needs than existence needs. (but try telling Bill Clinton that top executives are
not motivated by sex and cheeseburgers...)

McClelland’s Theory of Needs:
According to David McClelland, regardless of culture or gender, people are driven by
three motives:
• Achievement,

• Affiliation, and

• Influence.

Since McClelland's first experiments, over 1,000 studies relevant to achievement
motivation have been conducted. These studies strongly support the theory.
• Achievement: The need for achievement is characterized by the wish to take
responsibility for finding solutions to problems, master complex tasks, set goals, get
feedback on level of success.
• Affiliation: The need for affiliation is characterized by a desire to belong, an
enjoyment of teamwork, a concern about interpersonal relationships, and a need
to reduce uncertainty.
• Power: The need for power is characterized by a drive to control and influence
others, a need to win arguments, a need to persuade and prevail

According to McClelland, the presence of these motives or drives in an individual
indicates a predisposition to behave in certain ways. Therefore, from a manager's
perspective, recognizing which need is dominant in any particular individual affects the
way in which that person can be motivated.

Summary: People with achievement motives are motivated by standards of excellence,
delineated roles and responsibilities and concrete, timely feedback. Those with affiliation
motives are motivated when they can accomplish things with people they know and trust.
And the power motive is activated when people are allowed to have an impact, impress
those in power, or beat competitors.

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Cognitive Evaluation Theory

This theory suggests that there are actually two motivation systems: intrinsic and
extrinsic that corresponds to two kinds of motivators:

Intrinsic motivators: Achievement, responsibility and competence. motivators
that come from the actual performance of the task or job -- the intrinsic
interest of the work.
Extrinsic: pay, promotion, feedback, working conditions -- things that come
from a person's environment, controlled by others.

One or the other of these may be a more powerful motivator for a given
individual.Intrinsically motivated individuals perform for their own achievement and
satisfaction. If they come to believe that they are doing some job because of the pay
or the working conditions or some other extrinsic reason, they begin to lose
motivation.

The belief is that the presence of powerful extrinsic motivators can actually reduce a
person's intrinsic motivation, particularly if the extrinsic motivators are perceived by
the person to be controlled by people. In other words, a boss who is always dangling
this reward or that stick will turn off the intrinsically motivated people.

Note that the intrinsic motivators tend to be higher on the Maslow hierarchy.

Two Factor Theory (Herzberg)

Two-factor Theory: Herzberg's Two Factor Theory, also known as the Motivation-
Hygiene Theory, was derived from a study designed to test the concept that people have
two sets of needs:
1. Their needs as animals to avoid pain
2. Their needs as humans to grow psychologically

Herzberg‘ study Herzberg's study consisted of a series of interviews that sought to elicit
responses to the questions:

(1) Recall a time when you felt exceptionally good about your job. Why did you feel
that way about the job? Did this feeling affect your job performance in any way?
Did this feeling have an impact on your personal relationships or your well- being?

(2) Recall a time on the job that resulted in negative feelings? Describe the sequence
of events that resulted in these negative feelings.

(3)Research Results: it appeared from the research, that the things making people
happy on the job and those making them unhappy had two separate themes.

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(1) Satisfaction (Motivation): Five factors stood out as strong determiners of job
satisfaction:
• Achievement

• Recognition

• Work Itself

• Responsibility

• Advancement

The last three factors were found to be most important for bringing about lasting changes
of attitude. It should be noted, that recognition refers to recognition for achievement as
opposed to recognition in the human relations sense.

(2) Dissatisfaction (Hygiene): The determinants of job dissatisfaction were found to be:

• Company Policy

• Administrative Policies

• Supervision

• Salary

• Interpersonal Relations

• Working Conditions

From the results Herzberg concluded that the replies people gave when they felt good
about their jobs were significantly different from the replies given when they felt bad.
Certain characteristics tend to be consistently related to job satisfaction and others to job
dissatisfaction. Intrinsic factors, such as work itself, responsibility and achievement seem
to be related to job satisfaction. Respondents who felt good about their work tended to
attribute these factors to themselves. On the other dissatisfied respondents tended to cite
extrinsic factors such as supervision, pay, company policies and working condition.
Herzberg proposed that his findings indicated the existence of a dual continuum: the
opposite of ―satisfaction‖ is ―No satisfaction‖ and the opposite of ―Dissatisfaction‖ is ―No
Dissatisfaction.

According to Herzberg, the factors leading to Job satisfaction are separate and distinct
form those that lead to job dissatisfaction. Therefore, managers who seek to eliminate
factors that can create job dissatisfaction may bring about peace but not necessarily
motivation. They will be placating their workforce rather than motivating them. As a
result, conditions surrounding the job such as quality of supervision, pay , company
policies, physical working conditions relations with others and job security were
characterized by Herzberg as hygiene factors, when they‘re adequate, people will not be
dissatisfied ; neither will they be satisfied. If we want to motivate people on their jobs,
Herzberg suggested emphasizing factors associated with the work itself or to outcomes

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directly derived form it, such as promotional opportunities, opportunities for personal
growth, recognition, responsibility and achievement. These are the characteristics that
people find intrinsically rewarding.

Reinforcement Theory:

This theory focuses its attention as to what controls behaviour. In contrast to goal setting
theory, which is cognitive approach focus attention on what initiates behaviour?
Behaviour, as per cognitive approach is initiated by internal events. Reinforcement theory
argues that behaviour is reinforced and controlled by external events. The classical
conditioning proposed by Pavlov which we have already studied in our earlier lessons
explains this in a better way.

Equity Theory

Suppose employee A gets a 20% raise and employee B gets a 10% raise. Will both be
motivated as a result? Will A be twice as motivated? Will be B be negatively
motivated?

Equity theory says that it is not the actual reward that motivates, but the perception,
and the perception is based not on the reward in isolation, but in comparison with the
efforts that went into getting it, and the rewards and efforts of others. If everyone got
a 5% raise, B is likely to feel quite pleased with her raise, even if she worked harder
than everyone else. But if A got an even higher raise, B perceives that she worked just
as hard as A, she will be unhappy.

In other words, people's motivation results from a ratio of ratios: a person compares
the ratio of reward to effort with the comparable ratio of reward to effort that they
think others are getting.

Of course, in terms of actually predicting how a person will react to a given
motivator, this will get pretty complicated:

1. People do not have complete information about how others are rewarded. So
they are going on perceptions, rumors, inferences.
2. Some people are more sensitive to equity issues than others
3. Some people are willing to ignore short-term inequities as long as they expect
things to work out in the long-term.

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Expectancy Theory (Vroom)

This theory is meant to bring together many of the elements of previous theories. It
combines the perceptual aspects of equity theory with the behavioral aspects of the
other theories. Basically, it comes down to this "equation":

M = E*I*V

Or

Motivation = expectancy * instrumentality * valence

M (motivation) is the amount a person will be motivated by the situation they find
themselves in. It is a function of the following.

E (expectancy) = the person's perception that effort will result in performance. In
other words, the person's assessment of the degree to which effort actually correlates
with performance.

I (instrumentality) = the person's perception that performance will be
rewarded/punished. I.e., the person's assessment of how well the amount of reward
correlates with the quality of performance. (Note here that the model is phrased in
terms of extrinsic motivation, in that it asks 'what are the chances I'm going to get
rewarded if I do good job?'. But for intrinsic situations, we can think of this as asking
'how good will I feel if I can pull this off?').

V (valence) = the perceived strength of the reward or punishment that will result from
the performance. If the reward is small, the motivation will be small, even if
expectancy and instrumentality are both perfect (high).

Theory of “X” and Theory of “Y”:
Douglas McGregor observed two diametrically opposing viewpoints of managers about
their employees, one is negative called ―Theory of X‖ and one is positive called ―Theory
of Y‖
a) Theory of X : Following are the assumptions of managers who believe in the
―Theory of X‖ in regard to their employees.
• Employees dislike work; if possible avoid the same
• Employees must be coerced, controlled or threatened to do the work
• Employees avoid responsibilities and seek formal direction
• Most employees consider security of job, most important of all other factors
in the job and have very little ambition
b) Theory of Y: Following are the assumptions of managers who believe in the
―Theory of Y‖ in regard to their employees.

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• Employees love work as play or rest
• Employees are self directed and self controlled and committed to the
organizational objectives
• Employees accept and seek responsibilities
• Innovative spirit is not confined to managers alone, some employees also
possess it.

Theory of X assumes Maslow‘s lower level needs dominate in employees. Whereas
Theory of Y, assumes Maslow‘s higher level needs dominate in employees.

Self-Determination Theory

Self-Determination Theory (SDT) is closely related to Maslow's Theory with the
exception SDT suggests that people do not operate on auto-pilot... Instead, they rely
heavily on nourishment and support from their social environment to function
effectively.

SDT presupposes that all people have a built-in tendency toward growth and
development...that they strive to master challenges and to integrate their experiences
into a coherent sense of self.

According to Self-Determination Theory there are three concepts that affect
motivation:

Autonomy - Separateness... "I can do it myself"

Competence Feedback - Approval and Acknowledgment from significant others

Relatedness - Connectedness... "I'm not alone"

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1.10 Challenges of Motivation

Motivation seems to be a simple function of management in books, but in practice it is
more challenging.

The reasons for motivation being challenging job are as follows:

One of the main reasons of motivation being a challenging job is due to the changing
workforce. The employees become a part of their organization with various needs and
expectations. Different employees have different beliefs, attitudes, values,
backgrounds and thinking. But all the organizations are not aware of the diversity in
their workforce and thus are not aware and clear about different ways of motivating
their diverse workforce.

Employees motives cannot be seen, they can only be presumed. Suppose, there are
two employees in a team showing varying performance despite being of same age
group, having same educational qualifications and same work experience. The reason
being what motivates one employee may not seem motivating to other.

Motivation of employees becomes challenging especially when the organizations
have considerably changed the job role of the employees, or have lessened the
hierarchy levels of hierarchy, or have chucked out a significant number of employees
in the name of down-sizing or right-sizing. Certain firms have chosen to hire and fire
and paying for performance strategies nearly giving up motivational efforts. These
strategies are unsuccessful in making an individual overreach himself.

The vigorous nature of needs also pose challenge to a manager in motivating his
subordinates. This is because an employee at a certain point of time has diverse needs
and expectations. Also, these needs and expectations keep on changing and might also
clash with each other. For instance-the employees who spend extra time at work for
meeting their needs for accomplishment might discover that the extra time spent by
them clash with their social needs and with the need for affiliation.

Work Motivation

Craig Pindar ―echoing the basic definition of motivation, define it as follows:―Work
motivation is a set of energetic force that originate both within as well asbeyond and
individuals being, to initiate work – related behavior, and to determine its form,
direction, intensity, and duration.‖While general motivation is concerned with effort
towards any goal, StephenRobbins narrow the focus to organizational goals in order
to reflect singular interesting work related behavior the effort element is a measure of
intensity. The needmeans some internal state that makes certain outcomes appear
attractive. Andunsatisfied need creates tension that stimulates drives within the

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individual. Thisdrives general a search behavior to find particular goals, if attend, will
satisfied theneeds and lead to the reduction of tension.

Integrated Model of Work Motivation
The integrated model of work motivation, by Locke and Latham, forms the theory
foundation for this study.

The model shows that a person‘s needs affect his values and personality, which affect
his choice of goals and his satisfaction or dissatisfaction, determining his actions. A
person‘s choice of goals can be understood through the study of goal theory. Goal
effects are enhanced by goal moderators. Goals affect performance while performance
determines rewards.

The elements of the model and the various related theories will be discussed in depth.

Maslow’s needs hierarchy

The first item in the integrated model is ‗needs‘, since motivation starts with needs

This theory was proposed by Abraham Maslow and is based on the assumption that
people are motivated by a series of five universal needs. These needs are ranked,
according to the order in which they influence human behavior, in hierarchical
fashion

Physiological needs are deemed to be the lowest- level needs. These needs include
the needs such as food & water.
So long as physiological needs are unsatisfied, they exist as a driving or
motivating force in a person's life. A hungry person has a felt need. This felt need
sets up both psychological and physical tensions that manifest themselves in overt
behaviors directed at reducing those tensions (getting something to eat). Once the
hunger is sated, the tension is reduced, and the need for food ceases to motivate. At
this point (assuming that other physiological requirements are also satisfied) the next
higher order need becomes the motivating need.
Thus, safety needs -- the needs for shelter and security -- become the motivators of
human behavior.
Safety needs include a desire for security, stability, dependency, protection, freedom
from fear and anxiety, and a need for structure, order, and law.. In the workplace this
needs translates into a need for at least a minimal degree of employment security; the

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knowledge that we cannot be fired on a whim and that appropriate levels of effort and
productivity will ensure continued employment.
Social needs include the need for belongingness and love.
Generally, as gregarious creatures, human have a need to belong. In the workplace,
this need may be satisfied by an ability to interact with one's coworkers and perhaps
to be able to work collaboratively with these colleagues.
After social needs have been satisfied, ego and esteem needs become the motivating
needs.
Esteem needs include the desire for self-respect, self-esteem, and the esteem of
others. When focused externally, these needs also include the desire for reputation,
prestige, status, fame, glory, dominance, recognition, attention, importance, and
appreciation.
The highest need in Maslow's hierarchy is that of self-actualization; the need for self-
realization, continuous self-development, and the process of becoming all that a
person is capable of becoming.
The key to Maslow‘s theory is that once a particular level of need is satisfied, it then
stops being a motivating force. The person then seeks a higher level of need
satisfaction. The theory also indicates that money‘s power to motivate a person is
limited.
Maslow‘s theory can be a useful tool for managers in determining the kinds of
rewards that could be effective in motivating employees. The key is to recognize
every employee as an individual and also to remember that employees‘ needs differ
from time to time. Therefore it is the manager‘s duty to regularly reassess the
employees

Goal choice: Vroom’s VIE theory

As the integrated model indicates, one‘s values and personality contribute to Goal
choice, which is influenced by incentives and self-efficacy. The way in which goals,
rewards or outcomes affect motivation is encompassed in Vroom‘s theory.

Vroom developed a complex mathematical model to explain motivation in the
workplace , known as the expectancy theory. It is one of the most widely accepted
motivational theories. Although there has been criticism of the expectancy theory, the
proof is still supportive of the theory.

Expectancy theory explains how rewards lead to behaviour by focusing on internal
cognitive states that lead to motivation. The theory assumes that people think about
what they are doing, what they are getting, and its worth. The idea of this theory is
that the individual will be motivated when he or she believes that their behaviour will

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lead to desired rewards or outcomes. If the individual does not believe that his or her
behaviour will lead to the desired outcomes or rewards, he or she will not be
motivated to perform. Also, if he or she does not want the outcomes or rewards, then
he or she will not be motivated to perform the behaviour. Vroom‘s theory posits that
motivation is a mathematical function of three types of cognitions. The equation as
following:

Motivation = Expectancy × (Valences × Instrumentalities)

Three major elements that determine a person‘s motivation are: valence, which is
defined as the measure of the value of the outcome of work (Edwards, 1999:385);
expectancy, which is one‘s belief about the possibility of a particular outcome; and
instrumentality, the probability belief linking one outcome to another.

Expectancy theory explains that an employee is willing to perform with a high level
of effort when he or she believes that this will lead to desired rewards.

This theory is well accepted for two main reasons. Firstly, it is logical to think that
employees will not be motivated by things they do not wish to have. Secondly, this
theory works in conjunction with the other motivational theories. For instance,
recognition is also pointed out by Herzberg‘s theory, while status is mentioned by
Maslow.

Goal theory: Goal choice

Goal theory also affects one‘s choice of goals. Goal-setting theory is probably the
theory of motivation that has been most useful to psychologists. The principles of the
theory have been widely used in organizations.

Locke suggests that the intentions people have play an important role in formulating
their behavioral patterns. The basic idea of goal-setting theory is thus that people‘s
behaviour is motivated by their intentions, objectives and goals. According to the
theory, a goal is what an individual wants to achieve or attain goals are a major source
of motivation, so goal setting is an important part of most motivational programmes
and managerial methods of motivating employees. Goals can be specific or general,
difficult or easy. Specific goals lead to better performance; difficult goals, when
accepted, will lead to even better performance. In this theory, the specificity of the
goal acts as an internal stimulus. However, it is difficult for goals to direct employees‘
behaviour unless they receive feedback. Feedback regarding goals will result in higher

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performance than when the feedback is absent. In other words, employees do best
when they receive feedback on how well they are heading towards their goals.
Feedback shows employees the difference between what they have done and what
they want to achieve. Self-generated feedback, where employees monitor their own
progress, has proven to be a more powerful motivator than externally generated
feedback.

On the other hand, some evidence shows that the more difficult the goal, the greater
the sense of accomplishment and achievement the employee feels when the goal is
achieved.

Thus employees might tend to be more motivated to achieve difficult goals than easy
ones, even if the probability of achievement is low. In this case, the manager should
direct the employee in the right direction for achieving the difficult goal in order to
prevent cheating, unethical behaviour or the falsification of performance measures.

Goal-setting studies point out that goals motivate employees for several reasons.
Firstly, a goal directs an employee‘s attention to a specific target, so the employee
exerts efforts in a specific direction toward achieving that specific target. Secondly, a
challenge goal, which requires repeated effort, encourages persistence. Lastly,
because the goal creates a gap between the reality and the desired, it fosters the
creation of strategies and courses of action.

Although researchers have proved that goal-setting theory can be effective, some
researchers have begun to notice its limitations. Yearta et al. point out that most goal-
setting studies involve single goals, and that when goals are more than one and are
more complex or difficult, performance is poorer.

Enriching goal-setting theory with time

Time is an important factor in people‘s lives, both at and outside work. Time is
significant to one‘s past and present experiences, and also to one‘s future plans and
life expectations. Work motivation theories have, however, generally failed to
incorporate time as an important variable that affects one‘s motivation to work. As
discussed previously, goal-setting theory states that expectancy, instrumentality, and
valence will be high if goals are difficult, challenging, specific and achievable. The
theory further states that one‘s commitment is important to maximize the relationship
between goal and performance. Finally, timely feedback is necessary for successful
attainment of the goal.

One time-related issue that is discussed in goal-setting theory is that of a deadline,
which defines when the task needs to be completed. The idea is that a deadline serves
as a tool for time control and increases the motivational effect of goals. In other
words, when the available time is longer than needed to complete the task, the
individual tends to slow down activity to fill the available time. In contrast, when the
deadline is closer, one tends to work faster (Fried &Slowik, 2004:407). Research has

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found that insufficient time before a deadline can lead to less effective performance,
especially when performing complex tasks.

An important issue that also needs to be addressed is how time affects the choice and
selection of multiple goals and how these goals relate to each other across time.
Finally, goal-setting theory suggests that people work longer on challenging goals. A
number of studies have supported this suggestion. However, similar to other
motivational theories, goal-setting theory has failed to address the potential effect that
time has on the major components of the theory - goal difficulty, goal attainability,and
goal specificity.

Time and goal difficulty: The idea that difficult and challenging goals lead to higher
work motivation and performance than simpler goals, as long as they are attainable,
may not always be true, but it may be contingent on the time context in which the
particular goal is being performed. Control theory suggests that behaviour is
complicated and can be explained by hierarchies of feedback loops.In such
hierarchies, performing one goal successfully may be part of the input to a higher
order goal. For example, in the workplace, employees may use clock time as a basis
for performing sequential goals that have different levels of difficulty. They may
work hard for less challenging goals if they see the accomplishment of these simpler
goals as a step in performing more challenging and difficult goals inthe future.

Time and the attainability of goals: Goal-setting theory states that for goals to be
motivational, they must not only be challenging and specific but also achievable.
Again, the relationship between goal achievability and employee motivation and
effort may be influenced by time. Employees may be given risky goals with a low
possibility of achievement, which would cause low employee motivation. For
example, an individual might be asked to be involved in innovative operations, where
both the processes of achieving a product and the time frame are uncertain. The
probability of successfully producing a new product is obviously.

Goal moderators

The effects of goals on motivation are enhanced by goal moderators. Locke and
Latham have identified the following four goal moderators: feedback; commitment;
ability; and task complexity.

Feedback

Research has shown that goal setting without the presence of feedback is ineffective.

Goal setting and feedback together lead to improved performance. Goals direct one‘s
actions while feedback tracks the progress of those actions in relation to the goal.
When an individual works towards a goal and is told that he is behind schedule, he
tends to work harder, hence performance is improved; whereas an individual who is
told that he is on target tends not to improve performance.

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Commitment

Challenging goals lead to high performance only if the individual commits to them.
An individual‘s commitment tends to decline as goal difficulty increases, so
performance decreases rather than increases. There are at least four factors affecting
goal commitment: legitimate power or authority; peers influence; individual‘s
expectancy; and rewards or incentives:

Authority: Jones and George (2003:48) define authority as ―the power to hold people
accountable for their actions and to make decisions concerning the use of
organizational resources‖. Authority gives managers the right to achieve
organizational goals through directing and controlling employee behaviour. Goals that
are assigned by the person with authority over the individual tend to become the
individual‘s personal goals. With regard to commitment, there is no difference
between goals assigned by the authority figure and goals set by the individual in a
participative manner, providing the goals are reasonably explained and the individual
is supported by the authority figure.

Peer influence: Peer influence, especially peer pressure and modeling, also affects
goal commitment. Peer pressure is known to encourage commitment. Strong group
norms also induce commitment, giving little difference in productivity among group
members. There will be higher commitment to individual goals if both group goals
and individual goals are assigned for a group task than if only individual goals are
assigned.

Expectancy: The individual‘s expectancy of being able to reach the goal or perform at
a high level affects commitment. According to Vroom‘s expectancy theory, goals that
are moderate or easy are more likely to be accepted than goals that are difficult,
although a high degree of commitment can be engaged for a short time for goals that
are hard to reach. Individuals usually prefer moderate goals.

However, the employee might still be motivated to achieve a difficult goal if two
conditions are met: firstly, the connection between rewards and achieving the difficult
goal is clear; secondly, the reward for achieving the goal is large. The choice of goals
can also be influenced by previous or current goals assigned.

Rewards or incentives: Goal commitment is high when an individual works to achieve
a goal that is seen as instrumental in gaining other valued outcomes. Verbal appraisal
is found to be especially powerful in motivating. Commitment is measured to be
higher when a reward is offered for partial success than when only full success is
rewarded.

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Ability

Obviously, whether a person is capable of meeting a goal or not is determined by his
or her ability. Goal-setting studies have proved that the relation between goal
difficulty and performance can be limited by a person‘s ability. There is also evidence
that goal setting has a stronger effect on people with higher ability than on people
with lower ability.

Task complexity

There are three dimensions of task complexity: component complexity, meaning the
elements in the task; coordinative complexity, meaning the number and nature of the
relationships between the elements; and dynamic complexity, meaning the number
and types of elements and the relationships between them over time.

Research has found that the effect of goals is significantly larger with less complex
tasks than with more complex tasks. Evidence shows that with highly complex tasks,
the individual who has no previous experience and is told to perform well rather than
told to ‗do your best‘, may perform poorly.

In summary, a specific challenging goal can be attained the best when the individual
has the ability, is committed to the goal, gets feedback on progression in relation to
the goal and has high expectancy to perform the task well, and the task is simple.

Goal and efficacy mechanisms: mediators

Goals also affect performance through their effects on mediators: direction, effort,
persistence and, indirectly, task strategies. Wood and Locke define three mediators or
mechanisms that help the individual to attain goals: direction of attention; effort; and
persistence. These correspond to the three attributes for motivated action: direction,
intensity and duration.

This simply means that an individual can perform better if he or she pays attention to
the task, puts effort into it and persists over a period of time. Goals direct an
individual's attention to the task or activities specified by the goal, with the result that
he or she will focus less on the goal‘s irrelevant tasks or activities. With regard to
task persistence, when an individual is given a goal, he or she will most likely
continue working until the goal is reached. If there are no time limits to achieving the
goal, the individual will work longer for a harder goal than for an easier goal. The
individual will also spend more time preparing to perform if the goal requires a high-
performance standard than if it requires a low-performance standard.

Goals can also influence performance indirectly by motivating the individual to
develop task-specific strategies. There are, broadly speaking, two types of task-
specific strategies:

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• Stored task-specific strategies. These are learned either through instructions given or
through practice. Such strategies can be performed automatically when the individual
performs similar or relevant tasks.

• New task-specific strategies. When stored task-specific strategies fail as a result of a
task being new or differences in task situations, the individual will develop new-task
specific strategies to adapt and to cope with the new situation. There is no guarantee
that the individual will always choose the right or appropriate task strategies, but
goals may guide the individual.

Performance and outcomes
There are three basic types of objective outcome measurements in the workplace that
canbe used to guide performance: quality of production, for instance the amount
produced orthe number of mistakes; money, such as profit and loss; and time,
including attendance and deadlines for tasks. When objective outcome measurements
are not available, behavioural measurements can be used. These can be made by
observing the individual. If desired behaviours are demonstrated frequently, desirable
outcomes will be attained more easily.

Rewards
When rewards are given to those who achieve high performance, they can become an
important instrument to encourage the continuance of the desired behaviour. In the
workplace, external rewards include incentives, benefits and other monetary forms of
rewards. Such external rewards are often used as motivators by managers. However,
Herzberg argues that motivation comes from work itself and these external rewards
are merely just satisfiers or dissatisfies. Managers who feel that their employees have
a lack of motivation should reassess the reward systems being used in the company.
Managers must maintain a balance between the employee‘s base pay, benefits and
other external rewards. These provide employees with a reward programme that is
fair, competitive and measurement-based. Once employees are motivated, they will be
able to fulfill the customers‘ needs and together achieve the company‘s goals (Bowen,
2000:182).

However, not all rewards are external. Internal rewards can occur as a result of a
sense of accomplishment, attaining a level of excellence and success or making
progress towards a goal. Higher satisfaction is experienced when the success is
attributed to the individual her or himself rather than to external factors. Difficult
goals may lead to higher levels of satisfaction than easier goals because they are
attained less frequently. Research has been done on how rewards affect employee
performance.

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Attribution theory

According to Locke and Latham‘s model, attribution theory should also be considered
when studying performance. Attribution theory suggests that motivation is a response
by the individual to a self-perception of their behaviour. Its emphasis is on the ways
that the attributions an individual makes about his or her own or other‘s performance,
affect that individual‘s subsequent choices and actions. Attribution theory does not
identify the actual cause of the behaviour; it provides the cause of the behaviour from
the perceiver‘s point of view (Martin, 1998:49). Kelley is credited with developing
the theory of attribution that provides views of the attribution process (Miner,
2005:187). Co-variation is the central principle of Kelley‘s theory. A causal
relationship exists between two events when they occur at the same time. If a
particular outcome only occurs when a specific situation exists, then the situation is
said to co-vary with the effect. Kelley suggests that individuals tend to identify co-
variance relationships through a number of ways:

• Distinctiveness. Did the behaviour only occur when performing this specific task
and not others?

• Consistency. How consistent is this behaviour with the other behaviour of the
individual?

• Consensus. Is the behaviour unique to this individual or has it been widespread
among others?

Later, Weiner developed a framework to distinguish different types of attribution and
therefore appropriate response behaviours: the individual‘s ability; the individual‘s
effort level; the difficulty of the task to be performed; and luck.

Achievement-motivated individuals attribute their success to their effort and hard
work and their failures to their not having tried hard enough. If they fail, they tend to
try again because they believe that they can succeed with greater efforts. In contrast,
individuals with a low need for achievement see effort and hard work as irrelevant.
They attribute their own failures to other factors and view their success as due to luck
or the easiness of the task.

Limitations of the integrated model
The numerous limitations of the integrated model of work motivation by Locke and

Latham should be considered:

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 Some arrows are omitted to limit cognitive-perceptual overload. For example,
the relationship between perceived justice and goal commitment is omitted,
while there is no indication that personality can affect job satisfaction.
 There are several theories not fully elaborated, aside from goal theory. For
example, there are sub-theories and complexities involved in procedural
justice.
 Ability, knowledge and skills, abbreviated as KAS, are significant to
performance. They are the abilities needed to perform, yet they are not shown
in the model.
 The model focuses on conscious motivation and leaves out the sub-conscious.
 The model does not take doubtful or highly limited theoriesintoconsideration.

1.11 Recent Development of Work Motivation

Introduction

While theoretical development on work motivation may have declined in recent years,
the world of work has changed dramatically and rapidly. It has described the
enormous changes the world of work is going through, and includes factors
influencing the motivation of today‘s employees, to serve as guidelines for
management today.

Changes in the world of work

 Changes in the organization

The above section describes the changes that are reshaping today‘s economy. These
changes have also affected today‘s organizations. Understanding these changes could
help managers to minimize the negative effects and to capitalize on the positive
effects that the changes are having on the company.

 Externalization of risks

Companies in the 1960s and 1970s owned and controlled the business as much as they
could. IBM was one of the examples. To maintain maximum control over the
operation, the company created centralized departments to monitor the decisions
made by the lower management levels. Two of the disadvantages of this strategy are
exposure to business risks and inflexibility. To overcome this, companies today
externalize risks by outsourcing. Outsourcing occurs when a company contracts
outside companies to provide resources or services. However, the company should

34

take care not to lose its strategic skills or advantages. With outsourcing, companies
are able to focus on their strengths and emphasize their core competencies.
Companies have now recognized the importance of leasing or buying services or
products from other companies when striving to meet cost-reduction and growth
objectives

 Work flexibility

As Locke and Latham indicate in their integrated model of work motivation, it is
important to understand employees‘ needs. Flexible benefit programmes, flexible
working hours, family-friendly programmes and bonus pay are designed to motivate
employees to be satisfied and become high performers. Working-time flexibility
refers to management‘s use of variable working hours to meet the company‘s
demands. The practice of flexible working is becoming more popular for economic,
industrial and social reasons. The growing globalization requires companies to
operate in different time zones around the clock; customers are demanding later
opening hours and greater accessibility, especially from the service and retail sectors;
competitive pressures in the manufacturing sectors require expensive equipment to
operate for the maximum period to save costs; and there is a stronger need for both
men and women to balance their family and work. There has been a great deal written
and spoken about work and life balance in recent years. Research suggests that
helping employees to balance their work and family life can result in better
performance; increase productivity and reduce absenteeism; while the company can
recruit and retain skilled employees more easily.

 Teamwork

Effective teamwork has been a key factor in business success. Today, a lot of
managers use teams to solve problems, generate ideas and complete jobs. Teamwork
offers opportunities for job enrichment, gives autonomy to employees, decreases the
workload of supervisors and may also enhance performance on difficulty or
complicated tasks .Team is defined by Thiagarajan and Parker as ―a group of people
with a high degree of interdependence geared toward the achievement of a goal or the
completion of a task‖. Employees working in teams help to increase flexibility in
companies. A recent survey shows that 73 percent of the companies in the United
States have some of their employees working in teams. Employees lose sight of the
big picture when they are divided into departments. When employees work in teams,
both horizontal and vertical hierarchical barriers are broken down, allowing the
company to respond faster to changes and permitting better coordination in activities
between departments. Since unclear ormisleading directions usually cause team

35

failure, managers need to communicate the vision, mission and the values clearly to
the employees when organizing teams.

 Multiculturalism

Multiculturalism is another issue that is reshaping the workforce. Globalization has
encouraged immigration. Workforce diversity is changing companies today and the
workforce will become even more diverse in the next twenty years. Diversity seems to
be growing in the business world, although it has always been there. Having a variety
of different talents to use and being able to improve market understanding are some of
the main benefits of managing diversity. Cross-cultural teams can create problems in
terms of language differences and the different ways of communicating, but can also
be more creative.

 Downsizing

Another issue to be addressed is downsizing. Downsizing is a management practice in
which companies reduce the size of a company by laying off employees. The focus
may be monetary costs, time costs, or technological costs. This management strategy
has becoming popular, but management‘s motivation for this is not always obvious.
Some critics believe that downsizing is a way for management to show the
stockholders that there is a need to keep costs down. Supporters of this strategy argue
that employee reductions are needed to maintain competitiveness in the fast-changing
global marketplace. Companies are strategically reducing operations that are over-
employed while increasing employees in areas that add value. Downsizing is likely to
have some undesirable outcomes as it affects employees‘ morale, motivation and
productivity; service delivery, because of the loss of skilled employees; and
departmental planning. Many people who have been laid off by big companies choose
to start their own businesses. Purchasing a franchise allows them to run their own
businesses with less risk because of the support provided by the franchiser. When
companies are busy downsizing, they are in fact also facing a labour shortage. The
employees who are being laid off do not have the skills that the companies need to be
competitive. Lawler identifies the two powerful forces that are causing the increasing
shortage of knowledge-skilled employees: workforce demographics and education.
Many developed countries, for example, Japan, Italy and Germany, are experiencing a
high percentage of their workforce entering or having already entered the age of
retirement. This shift is a result of both low birth rates and longer life expectancies.
Although some of the retirees can still stay in the workforce, they do not necessarily
have the up-to-date knowledge to meet the needs of the companies. The second force
comes from a lack of education. The schooling system is not producing enough well-
educated students to perform the type of work required in today‘s business world,
especially people who can do technical and engineering work. The importance of a

36

highly skilled workforce must not be undervalued. In the old business environment,
many jobs did not need to be performed by highly skilled employees, so the need for
the highly talented was limited. However, the situation is different now with the
challenges that technology has brought. The growth of knowledge and technology and
the demands for an educated workforce will definitely continue to grow.

 Changes in today‘s employees

The changes that have reshaped the economy and the organisation have redefined the
term employee.

The term multi-skilling implies a higher level of flexibility for a job in a company.
This happens usually in activities which require unskilled to skilled or technical
expertise. In the past, companies were stable and it was preferable for employees to
have a narrow set of specific skills in order to perform repetitive tasks. Today,
companies need employees with multiple skills to handle a variety of job tasks, rather
than specialists. The more skills an employee has, the better he or she can help the
company to achieve its goals and the more valuable he or she is in the job market. As
mentioned earlier, being a team player has becoming increasingly important for
companies that organize around teams. Therefore skills such as problem solving,
group decision-making skills, conflict-solving skills and interpersonal skills are
especially needed to contribute to high-performance teams. Effective managers should
communicate the company‘s vision, goals, and business strategy with the team and
link these with the team‘s mission. This gives the team members clear direction,
purpose and security. Team members perform best when they know what is expected
from them and what they can expect from the company.

The changing world of work implies longer working hours, less family time and more
stress. To keep costs low, companies have been downsizing and re-engineering,
causing many employees to work harder in order to stay in their company. Also,
companies delegate more tasks to the highly skilled employees, usually resulting in
stress for the employees. Employees often struggle to cope with the pressure and
stress due to an increased amount of work and to high levels of insecurity. This could
also cause alienation. Alienation implies a feeling of powerlessness, meaninglessness
and even social isolation.

The changes in the world of work have also brought changes to people‘s attitudes
towards work. Krech and Crutchfield define attitude as ―an enduring organisation of
motivational, emotional, perceptual and cognitive processes with respect to some
aspect of the individual‘s world‖. There are numerous theories and models that have
been developed on attitudes in general and particularly on work. Katz and Kahn
suggest that attitudes and motivation are intertwined. Motivation needs to be
maintained by the managers to create a working environment where employees will
have positive attitudes. People‘s values and attitudes towards work have changed in

37

today‘s world. Many people no longer want long term relationships with
organizations. On average, people used to have three or four jobs during their careers,
but this is now increasing as people become more mobile. To decrease the turnover
rate, managers should understand what employees are looking for in their jobs.

Recent Developments of Work Motivation Approaches
The newer theorists, after research and interviews, have come up with new ideas of
motivation for today‘s employees. There are a variety of factors regarded by different
theorists as motivational..

Belief system of motivation

Thad Green, a university professor who established his own company, used Vroom‘s
expectancy theory) as a foundation for training unemployed people to develop the
skills they needed to keep productive jobs. Green simplified Vroom‘s expectancy
theory by removing the mathematics. Instead of saying that people have expectations
that determine motivation at work, Green simply says that people have beliefs. Also,
instead of measuring expectations in the form of probabilities, Green measures beliefs
on a simple ten-point rating scale. He calls the theory the Belief system of motivation
and performance. Working with people in his own company, Green has turned
Vroom‘s theoretical model into an application model. He proved that there is a critical
connection between motivation and performance. Green points out: ―Employees are
the best source of solutions to their own motivation and performance problems.
Managing is a shared responsibility. It takes more than offering people what they
want to unleash their motivation to perform‖.

The Belief system of motivation and performance explains how people determine the
level of effort they put into work and how well they will perform. All these decisions
originate from a process or chain of events: effort leads to performance which leads to
outcomes and results in satisfaction (Green, 2000:5). Green has identified three
beliefs: confidence, trust and satisfaction. These beliefs are the key to motivating
employees, so all three should be put into effect.

The first belief is confidence, which deals with the relationship between employee
effort and performance. One must believe that the effort one is capable of giving will
lead to the expected performance (Green, 2000:6). The second belief, trust, deals with
the relationship between performance and outcomes. Employees must believe and
trust that managers will give them what their performance deserves, for instance,
rewards, promotions or personal thanks for a job well done. In this case managers
must keep their word before diminishing an employee‘s trust. However, this trust in
an appropriate reward can sometimes be a problem in the workplace: performance is
not easy to measure; it is not easy to tie outcomes to performance; there are not
always desirable outcomes; and sometimes employees expect outcomes based on their

38

effort rather than on their performance (Green, 2000:9). Lastly, the satisfaction belief
deals with the relationship between outcomes and satisfaction. The outcome given by
the manager for completion of the job should satisfy the employee. Managers must
realize that the same outcomes do not always satisfy every employee.Green points out
that most motivation theories assume that performance reaches its peak when
employees are offered something they want, as they will work hard in order to
achieve it. The other side of the tactic is to offer something that employees do not
want, such as unemployment, so employees will work hard to avoid it.Research has
proved that the belief system works. As a result of this system, managers become
more effective leaders; employees are more motivated; the performance of
individuals, teams and the organisation improves; workers find greater job
satisfaction; teamwork is strengthened; management of changes runs more smoothly;
downsizing works; and turnarounds are more successful.

Understanding of employee motivation

Lindner points out in his journal, Understanding employee motivation, that for a
company to survive, it is important to keep the employees motivated. Motivating
employees is known as one of the most complex functions a manager can perform,
owing to the fact that these motives change. For instance, when an employee gets
older, interesting work could become more important than other factors, or when an
employee‘s salary increases, money becomes less of a motivator.

Research was done by James Lindner to examine the importance of certain motivation
factors, using a descriptive survey method, at the Piketon Research and Extension
Centre and Enterprise Centre at the Ohio State University. The target group was asked
to rank the factors from the most motivating to the least motivating. The following
reflects the order the respondents gave from most to least motivating:

• Interesting work. Managers can motivate employees through interesting work. Work
can be interesting when jobs are well designed and when specific goals are specified.

• Good wages. Companies attempt to increase employee motivation and performance
by linking incentive pay to increases in performance. In studies of motivation,
compensation has always been and certainly still is an important motivator, but not
the only one. Money itself cannot guarantee productivity among employees. As
Herzberg mentions, money can only be a short-term satisfier

• Appreciation of work well done. This can be achieved through giving the employees
feedback, recognition, reward and promotion. The need for appreciation for a job well

39

done from the managers can be more important than the need for a payrise for today‘s
employees.

• Job security. As mentioned earlier, companies lay off employees, downsize, and re-
engineer to save costs and to be competitive. Companies can increase employee
motivation by giving certain levels of job security.

• Good working conditions. Working conditions are a primary concern ofManagement
as they can determine employees‘ performance and productivity.

• Personal loyalty to employees. The instability of employment reflects a change in
employers‘ views towards the employment relationship. Motivating employees
through loyalty can be done by sharing information and celebrating successes, which
give the employees a sense of ownership. Celebration can help to bring employees
and the company closer together, hence improving the relationship.

• Tactful discipline. In this case, managers attempt to keep the employees‘
performance at acceptable levels by using discipline.

• Sympathetic help with personal problems. Showing interest in employees and their
needs is an essential step in establishing positive relationships. Managers get their
work done through employees. If managers do not know what employees need, they
may also not know what motivates them.

• Promotions and growth in the company. Training and development help growth in a
company. Both the employees and the company benefit, not just in the present, but
also in the future.

• Feeling of being in on things. This can be done through empowerment –
encouraging decision-making among employees. Empowerment is so
importantbecause a company needs its employees‘ knowledge, experience and skills
andtheir commitment to the company.

40

CARE model for motivating employees

With studies in motivation and retention, Glanz (2002:31) developed a CARE model
that assists managers in motivating and retaining employees. CARE is an acronym
made up from the words:

 Creative communication: Research done by Runzheimer International found
that the average manager spends 80 percent of his or her time communicating.
Glanz explains that effective communication contributes to a healthy and
cooperative work environment. Managers must therefore be open and honest
in their communications with employees.

 Atmosphere and appreciation: In all the current research on what motivates
employees and keeps them productive, appreciation is always one of the top
three desires. Nelson also mentions that a feeling of appreciation and
recognition is important.

 Respect and reason for being: When managers focus on employees as
individuals, they begin to treat the employees with respect. Managers need to
learn about employees and their strengths. Employees now search for the
meaning of their work, and the reason for being at work. As O‘Reilly III and
Pfeffer state, ―To the extent that any organisation can truly unleash the hidden
value in its people, it will increase its chance of success‖. Empathy and
enthusiasm: To value employees more as human beings is important in today‘s
motivation management. When companies care for employees‘ personal needs
and help to provide the resources to fulfill these needs, employees are loyal
and therefore more motivated. Managers must thus constantly assess the needs
of their employees and understand what they want in order to keep them
motivated.

41

1.12 Changes in the world of work

 Changes in the organization
The above section describes the changes that are reshaping today‘s economy. These
changes have also affected today‘s organizations. Understanding these changes could
help managers to minimize the negative effects and to capitalize on the positive
effects that the changes are having on the company.

 Externalization of risks
Companies in the 1960s and 1970s owned and controlled the business as much as they
could. IBM was one of the examples. To maintain maximum control over the
operation, the company created centralized departments to monitor the decisions
made by the lower management levels. Two of the disadvantages of this strategy are
exposure to business risks and inflexibility. To overcome this, companies today
externalize risks by outsourcing. Outsourcing occurs when a company contracts
outside companies to provide resources or services. However, the company should
take care not to lose its strategic skills or advantages. With outsourcing, companies
are able to focus on their strengths and emphasize their core competencies.
Companies have now recognized the importance of leasing or buying services or
products from other companies when striving to meet cost-reduction and growth
objectives.

 Work flexibility
As Locke and Latham indicate in their integrated model of work motivation, it is
important to understand employees‘ needs. Flexible benefit programmers, flexible
working hours, family-friendly programmers and bonus pay are designed to motivate
employees to be satisfied and become high performers. Working-time flexibility
refers to management‘s use of variable working hours to meet the company‘s
demands. The practice of flexible working is becoming more popular for economic,
industrial and social reasons. The growing globalization requires companies to
operate in different time zones around the clock; customers are demanding later
opening hours and greater accessibility, especially from the service and retail sectors;
competitive pressures in the manufacturing sectors require expensive equipment to

42

operate for the maximum period to save costs; and there is a stronger need for both
men and women to balance their family and work. There has been a great deal written
and spoken about work and life balance in recent years. Research suggests that
helping employees to balance their work and family life can result in better
performance; increase productivity and reduce absenteeism; while the company can
recruit and retain skilled employees more easily.

 Teamwork
Effective teamwork has been a key factor in business success. Today, a lot of
managers use teams to solve problems, generate ideas and complete jobs. Teamwork
offers opportunities for job enrichment, gives autonomy to employees, decreases the
workload of supervisors and may also enhance performance on difficulty or
complicated tasks .Team is defined by Thiagarajan and Parker as ―a group of people
with a high degree of interdependence geared toward the achievement of a goal or the
completion of a task‖. Employees working in teams help to increase flexibility in
companies. A recent survey shows that 73 percent of the companies in the United
States have some of their employees working in teams. Employees lose sight of the
big picture when they are divided into departments. When employees work in teams,
both horizontal and vertical hierarchical barriers are broken down, allowing the
company to respond faster to changes and permitting better coordination in activities
between departments. Since unclear or misleading directions usually cause team
failure, managers need to communicate the vision, mission and the values clearly to
the employees when organizing teams.

 Downsizing
Another issue to be addressed is downsizing. Downsizing is a management practice in
which companies reduce the size of a company by laying off employees. The focus
may be monetary costs, time costs, or technological costs. This management strategy
has becoming popular, but management‘s motivation for this is not always obvious.
Some critics believe that downsizing is a way for management to show the
stockholders that there is a need to keep costs down. Supporters of this strategy argue
that employee reductions are needed to maintain competitiveness in the fast-changing
global marketplace. Companies are strategically reducing operations that are over-
employed while increasing employees in areas that add value. Downsizing is likely to

43

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