Motivational Theories

Motivation is about the reasons and incentives behind the behaviour of

individuals.Contextually it means the factors driving individuals at the workplace to
perform and behave the way they do.

Reasons for motivation

It is important to keep workers motivated because sales,profits, production, quality
and the wellbeing of the entire company depends on how motivated the employees
are.. Disgruntled employees tend to absent themselves from work, compromise
quality of production and tarnish the image of the company.

Types of motivation
Intrinsic motivation
This is the type of motivation concerned with the factors that are internal to the
worker for example, drive to succeed, to be recognised or fear of failure.

Extrinsic motivation
This involves the factors that are outside the subject (employee).
Factors include remuneration, awards, vacatio, promotion etc. In other words extrinsic
motivation is about what the employer offers to the employee.

Types of motivational Theories

There are two main types of motivational Theories which are:Masow'shierachy of
needs and the two factor model of Herzberg.

Maslow's Hierarchy of needs

Abraham Maslow came up with the pyramid of needs where basic needs are placed
at the bottom, followed by security needs, social needs, esteem and self-actualization
at the top.
The Hierarchy of needs can be used by managers to better understand employees’
needs and motivation and address them in ways that lead to high productivity and job
satisfaction. They basically need to make sure remuneration is sufficient enough to
provide employees with the needs at the bottom of the pyramid. Some companies
even apply the Hierarchy of needs by providing housing and lunch allowancs to
employees because they know employees can not perform well if basic needs are not
met.
They also create networks at the workplace to enable employees to interact with each
other and gain a sense of belonging to the group. Acknowledging and appreciating the
work done makes employees to feel recognised and worthy at the company. Self
esteem of employees is boosted by positive remarks for good work done. Job
promotion enhances the desire to move towards self actualisation.

The Herzberg two factor theory

Herzberg showed that the presence of certain factors truly motivate (motivators),
whereas the absence of others tended to lead to dissatisfaction (hygiene factors).
These hygiene factors need to be addressed and resolved before motivators can be
effective.
Motivators include recognition, advancement, promotion, responsibility and personal
growth
Hiegiene factors include salary, status relatioship with subordinates etc.

Pink's theory of motivation

Pink examines three factors that are autonomy, mastery and purpose
Autonomy
It is the power of decision making in terms of time taken to finish the job, not placing
much focus on time but on the quality of work done, technique and selection of team
members.
Mastery
Mastery involves taking into consideration the following requirements :
Autonomy
Clear goals
Immediate feedback
Goldilocks tasks - not too difficult, and not too simple
Purpose
It is important to place equal emphasis on purpose maximisation as you do on profit
maximisation. The attainment of profit goals has no positive impact on a person's
wellbeing, and can actually have the opposite effect. Organisational and individual
goals should focus on purpose as well as profit. Many successful companies are now
using profit as the catalyst to pursuing purpose, rather than the objective.
The needs theory
Psychologist David McClelland’s acquired-needs theory splits the needs of
employees into three categories which are: achievement, affiliation, and power.
Achievement
Employees who are strongly achievement-motivated are driven by the desire for
mastery. They prefer working on tasks of moderate difficulty in which
outcomes are the result of their effort rather than luck. They value receiving feedback
on their work
Affiliation
Employees who are strongly affiliation-motivated are driven by the desire to create
and maintain social relationships. They enjoy belonging to a group and want to feel
loved and accepted. They may not make effective managers because they may worry
too much about how others will feel about them.
Power
Employees who are strongly power-motivated are driven by the desire to influence,
teach, or encourage others. They enjoy work and place a high value on discipline.
However, they may take a zero-sum approach to group work—for one person to win,
or succeed, another must lose, or fail. If channeled appropriately, though, this
approach can positively support group goals and help others in the group feel
competent.

The acquired-needs theory doesn’t claim that people can be neatly categorized into
one of three types. Rather, it asserts that all people are motivated by all of these needs
in varying degrees and proportions. An individual’s balance of these needs forms a
kind of profile that can be useful in creating a tailored motivational paradigm for her.
It is important to note that needs do not necessarily correlate with competencies; it is
possible for an employee to be strongly affiliation-motivated, for example, but still be
successful in a situation in which her affiliation needs are not met.

McClelland proposes that those in top management positions generally have a high
need for power and a low need for affiliation. He also believes that although
individuals with a need for achievement can make good managers, they are not
generally suited to being in top management positions.

Equity or social comparison theories of motivation

According to equity theory, employees compare their own efforts to both internal
standards and others' standards. This comparison serves as the basis of motivation
(Weiner, 1991). Employees are likely to look toward their peers for direction on how
to do their jobs. This may be especially true in social work agencies, where the
environment is often described as turbulent. Attention should be given to how workers
relate to each other in addition to policies and instructions that guide employees'
practice
McGregor's Theory X – Theory Y
Douglas McGregor developed the ideas of Theory X and Theory Y based on the
assumption that managers' styles depend on what they believe motivates human
behavior. A social work manager may believe that people are motivated by the
concepts of Theory X or Theory Y, and then the manager's actions are in accordance.
In reality, most people fluctuate somewhere between the two theories (Weinbach,
1998).

Those who subscribe to Theory X believe that humans have distaste for work in
general and are not responsible by nature. The only motivations to work are based on
self-interest or coercive methods. A manager who believes people operate in this
manner is more likely to use rewards and punishments as motivators and create many
rules and procedures for compliance. These types of managers are always looking for
mistakes because they do not trust subordinates. It is a “we versus they” environment

Dawkins, R. (1976). The selfish gene. Oxford University Press, NY.

Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence. New York: Bantam.

Horner, M. S. (1970). Femininity and successful achievement: A basic inconsistency. In J. M.

Bardwicks (Ed.), Feminine personality and conflict. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Maslow, A. H. (1970). Motivation and personality (2nd ed.). New York: Harper & Row.

Myers, D. G. (1993). The pursuit of happiness. New York: Avon.