Motivating

Motivation
Factors Contributing to Motivation
Theories of Motivation
Techniques of Motivation

Motivation

 the willingness to exert high levels of effort to reach organizational goals,

conditioned by the effort’s ability to satisfy some individual need.
 the process of activating behavior, sustaining it, and directing it toward a
particular goal.
 Simply, forces that cause people to behave in certain ways.

Theories of Motivation
A. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

 developed by psychologist Abaraham Maslow, suggests that human

needs can be classified into five categories and that these categories can
be arranged in a hierarchy of importance.
 A manager should understand that an employee may not be satisfied
with only a salary and benefits; he or she may also need challenging job
opportunities to experience self-growth and satisfaction.
 1. Physiological Needs – the lowest level, these are things such as food,
sex, and air, which represent basic issues of survival and biological
function.
In organizations, survival needs are generally satisfied by adequate
wages and the work environment itself, which provides restrooms,
adequate lighting, comfortable temperatures, and ventilation.

2. Security Needs – needs for a secure physical and emotional

environment, such as housing and clothing and the need to be free from
worry about money and job security.
In organizations, these needs can be satisfied by assured job continuity
(no layoffs), an effective grievance system (to protect against arbitrary
supervisory actions), and an adequate insurance and retirement benefit
package (for security against illness and provision of income in later life).

3. Belongingness needs – relate to social processes. These include the

need for love and companionship and the need to be accepted by one’s
peers.
A manager can help satisfy these needs by allowing social interaction and
by making employees feel like part of a team or work group.

4. Esteem Needs – are met by self-respect or self-esteem, and the

esteem of others.
Praise, recognition, and promotion within the company satisfy these
needs. In some situations, this includes the location of a person’s office.

5. Self-Actualization Needs – the highest level and the most difficult for
a manager to address; these involve realizing one’s potential for
continued growth and individual development.
A manager could give employees a chance to participate in making
decisions about their work and the opportunity to learn new things.

B. Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory

  developed by Frederick Herzberg; suggests that people’s
satisfaction and dissatisfaction are influenced by two independent
sets of factors—motivation factors and hygiene factors.

 Herzberg’s hygiene factors correspond well to the lower three of

Maslow’s needs (physiological, security, belongingness) and the
motivators with the Maslow’s upper two needs (esteem and self-
actualization).

C. Expectancy Theory

 formulated in 1964 by Victor Vroom, a motivation model based on

the assumption that an individual will work depending on his
perception of the probability of his expectations to happen.
 This theory evaluates the motivational force (MF) of the different
behavioral options based on the individual's own perception of the
probability of attaining his desired outcome.
 Thus, the motivational force can be summarized by the following
equation:

MF = Expectancy X Instrumentality X ∑ (Valence(s))

 Expectancy (E) - refers to the "effort-performance" relation; the

perception of the individual is that the effort that he or she will put
forward will actually result in the attainment of the "performance". 

 Instrumentality (I) - refers to the "performance-reward" relation;

the individual evaluates the likelihood or probability that achieving
the performance level will actually result in the attainment of the
reward.
 Valence (V) – refers to the value of strength of a person’s desire for
a particular outcome; the attractiveness of the outcome to the
individual.
  If the individual wants the outcome, its valence is positive; if the
individual does not want the outcome, its valence is negative; and
if the individual is indifferent to the outcome, its valence is zero.

D. Goal Setting Theory

 assumes that behavior is a result of conscious goals and intentions,
therefore, by setting goals for people in the organization, a manager
should be able to influence their behavior.

Explanation:

o This theory suggests that goal difficulty, specificity, acceptance,

and commitment combine to determine an individual’s goal-
directed effort.
o This effort, when complemented by appropriate organizational
support and individual abilities and traits, results in
performance.
o Finally, performance is seen as leading to intrinsic and extrinsic
rewards that, in turn, result in employee satisfaction.
Definitions:
o Goal difficulty - the extent to which a goal is challenging and
requires effort.
o Goal specificity - the clarity and precision of the goal.
o Goal acceptance - the extent to which a person accepts a goal
as his or her own.
o Goal commitment - the extent to which he or she is personally
interested in reaching the goal.
o Organizational support - whatever the organization does to
help or hinder performance.
 o Individual abilities and traits - the skills and other personal
characteristics necessary for doing a job.

Techniques of Motivation
A. Motivation through Job Design

 Job Design – the process of work arrangement (or rearrangement)

aimed at reducing or overcoming job dissatisfaction and employee
alienation arising from repetitive and mechanistic tasks.
 Approaches to job design include:
o Job Enlargement: changes the jobs to include more and/or
different tasks. Job enlargement should add interest to the
work but may or may not give employees more responsibility.
o Job Rotation: where employees are moved periodically from
one specialized job to another.
o Job Enrichment: vertical expansion of jobs; allows employees
to assume more responsibility, accountability, and
independence when learning new tasks or to allow for greater
participation and new opportunities.

B. Motivation through Rewards

 Rewards – consist of material and psychological benefits to
employees for performing tasks in the workplace.
 Rewards may be classified into two categories:

o Extrinsic Rewards—usually financial—are the tangible

rewards given employees by managers, such as pay raises,
bonuses, and benefits.
 o Intrinsic Rewards are psychological rewards such as feeling of
contentment that employees get from doing meaningful work
and performing it well.

C. Motivation through Employee Participation

The more popular approaches to participation include the following:

 Quality Control Circles

 a participatory management technique that enlists the help of
employees in solving problems related to their own jobs.
 Circles are formed of employees working together in an operation
who meet at intervals to discuss problems of quality and to devise
solutions for improvements.

 Self-Managed Teams - autonomous small groups of employees whose

members determine, plan, and manage their day-to-day activities and
duties under reduced or no supervision. 

D. Other Motivation Techniques for Diverse Workforce

 Flexible Work Schedules – also called flextime, a promising alternative
work arrangement that allow employees to select, within broad
parameters, the hours they work.

 Family Support Services – employees are oftentimes burdened by

family obligations like caring for children, that’s why some organizations
 are providing day care facilities for the children of employees. This is an
example of family support service.

 Sabbaticals

o “a break from work” during which employees can pursue their

interests, like traveling, writing, research, volunteering, or other
activities (or even rest).
o During that time, the employee is still employed at their
organization, but they don’t need to perform their normal job
duties or report to work.
`