Acquired Needs Theory – Need for Achievement, Power & Affiliation

Acquired Needs Theory - Need for Achievement, Power & AffiliationAcquired needs theory studies
individuals’ needs and classifies them into three motivating drivers, need for achievement, power or
affiliation.In acquired needs theory, McClelland proposes each person falls into one three types of needs
based on personal preference and personal experience of that person.David McClelland describes how
an individual’s life experiences can change the type of individual needs over time.McClelland suggested
that regardless of our gender, culture, or age, we all have three motivating drivers, and one of these will
be our dominant motivating driver.This dominant motivator is largely dependent on our culture and life
experiences.David C. McClelland’s acquired needs theory is also known as “human motivation theory “,
“Motivational Needs Theory”. It is used to understand the need for employees and create a strategy for
the motivating process in the organization.

Acquired Needs Theory Classifies Needs in 3 Types

1. Need for Achievement (nAch)

->The drive to excel, to achieve a set of standards, to strive to succeed. The theory focuses on three
needs: achievement, power, and affiliation.Some people have a compelling drive to succeed. They are
striving for personal achievement rather than the rewards of success per se. This drive is the
achievement need (nAch).McClelland found that high achievers differentiate themselves from others by
their desire to do things better;

Features of people with Need for achievement (nAch);

  They seek personal responsibility for finding solutions to problems.
 They want to receive rapid feedback on their performance so they can tell easily whether they
are improving or not.
 They can set moderately challenging goals. High achievers are not gamblers; they dislike
succeeding by chance.
 High achievers perform best when they perceive their probability of success as 50-50.
 They like to set goals that require stretching themselves a little.

2. Need for Power (nPow)

->The need to make others behave in a way that they would not have behaved otherwise.

Need for power (nPow) features are;

 The desire to have an impact, to be influential, and to control others.

 Individuals high in nPow enjoy being “in charge.”
 Strive for influence over others.
 Prefer to be placed into competitive and status-oriented situations.
 Tend to be more concerned with prestige and gaining influence over others than with effective
performance.

3. Need for Affiliation (nAfl)

->The desire for friendly and close interpersonal relationships.

Features of Need for affiliation (nAfl) are;

 This need has received the least attention from researchers.

 Individuals with a high affiliation motive strive for friendship.
 Prefer cooperative situations rather than competitive ones.
 Desire relationships involving a high degree of mutual understanding.
Relying on an extensive amount of research, some reasonably well-supported predictions can be made
based on the relationship between achievement need and job performance;

 First, individuals with a high need to achieve prefer job situations with personal responsibility,
feedback, and an intermediate degree of risk. When these characteristics arc prevalent, high
achievers will be strongly motivated.
 Second, a high need to achieve docs not necessarily lead to being a good manager, especially in
large organizations People with a high achievement need are interested in how well they do
personally and not in influencing others to do well.
 Third, the needs for affiliation and power tend to be closely related to managerial success. The
best managers are high in their need for power and low in their need for affiliation.
 Finally, employees have been successfully trained to stimulate their achievement need.

Trainers have been effective in teaching individuals to think in terms of accomplishments, winning, and
success, and then helping them to learn how to act in a high achievement way by preferring situations
where they have personal responsibility, feedback, and moderate risks.

Herzberg’s Motivation Theory – Two Factor Theory

Herzberg’s Motivation Theory model, or Two Factor Theory, argues that there are two factors that an
organization can adjust to influence motivation in the workplace.
The two factors identified by Herzberg are motivators and hygiene factors.

1. Motivating Factors

The presence of motivators causes employees to work harder. They are found within the actual job
itself.

2. Hygiene Factors

The absence of hygiene factors will cause employees to work less hard. Hygiene factors are not present
in the actual job itself but surround the job.

The impact of motivating and hygiene factors is summarized in the following diagram. Note that you will
often see motivators referred to as factors for satisfaction, and hygiene factors referred to as factors for
dissatisfaction.

Motivating factors include:

»Achievement: A job must give an employee a sense of achievement. This will provide a proud feeling of
having done something difficult but worthwhile.

»Recognition: A job must provide an employee with praise and recognition of their successes. This
recognition should come from both their superiors and their peers.

»The work itself: The job itself must be interesting, varied, and provide enough of a challenge to keep
employees motivated.

»Responsibility: Employees should “own” their work. They should hold themselves responsible for this
completion and not feel as though they are being micromanaged.

»Advancement: Promotion opportunities should exist for the employee.

»Growth: The job should give employees the opportunity to learn new skills. This can happen either on
the job or through more formal training.

Hygiene factors include:

»Company policies: These should be fair and clear to every employee. They must also be equivalent to
those of competitors.

»Supervision: Supervision must be fair and appropriate. The employee should be given as much
autonomy as is reasonable.

»Relationships: There should be no tolerance for bullying or cliques. A healthy, amiable, and
appropriate relationship should exist between peers, superiors, and subordinates.

»Work conditions: Equipment and the working environment should be safe, fit for purpose, and
hygienic.

»Salary: The pay structure should be fair and reasonable. It should also be competitive with other
organizations in the same industry.

»Status: The organization should maintain the status of all employees within the organization.
Performing meaningful work can provide a sense of status.

»Security: It is important that employees feel that their job is secure and they are not under the
constant threat of being laid-off.
The Process Theory

A process theory is a system of ideas that explains how an entity changes and develops. Process theories
are often contrasted with variance theories, that is, systems of ideas that explain the variance in a
dependent variable based on one or more independent variables.

Process theories provide a description and analysis of how behavior is energized,directed,sustained and
stopped,for process theories are predominant reinforcement, expectancy, equity,and goal setting.

Expectancy Theory

Expectancy Theory of Motivation is a theory of motivation in the workplace. It states that an individual
within your team will be motivated when they believe they can hit their targets, they know they will be
rewarded for hitting those targets, and they value the reward.By motivating all team members in this
way you can create highly motivated individuals and thus high-performing teams.

Examples :of how to improve behavior and/or performance include setting stretch targets with rewards
attached, rewarding desirable behaviors, and linking the reward closely to each individual’s wants.

Let's examine each variable in turn from the point of view an employee or team member.

1. Expectancy

Expectancy is the belief that if you work hard (effort) you will be able to hit the targets (performance)
that have been set for you by your manager.

You make this judgment based on a number of factors, including:

»Your past experience.

»Your confidence in your ability.

»How difficult you perceive the target is to achieve, and whether or not the target is under your control.

An example of expectancy is thinking, “If I work hard I can achieve the targets my boss has set for me”.

2. Instrumentality

In this variable, you’re assessing how likely you are to receive a reward if you hit the targets that have
been set for you.

Again, you make this judgment based on a number of factors, including:

»Is the relationship clear between performance and reward (outcome).

»How much you trust the person who decides on the reward.

»How transparent is the decision-making process around who gets what reward?

An example of instrumentality is thinking, “If I achieve all of the targets set for me then I believe I will
get promoted”.

3. Valence

So far we have a goal to hit and we understand the reward we’ll get if we hit it. The final piece of the
motivation puzzle is valence. Valence is simply the perceived value of the reward to you.

This could be negative if you actively want to avoid the reward, zero if you are unmotivated by the
reward, or one if you’re motivated by the reward.

When it comes to valency, an employee will have to weigh up the pros and cons, for example, “Do I
want to be promoted? Will the extra work result in even less time with my family? Is it really worth
putting in a serious effort for a whole year to receive a promotion and a 10% pay rise?"

Expectancy Theory Formula

Combining the three variables above gives us the following formula.

MF simply means Motivation Force, which you can think of as being someone’s motivation to do
something.

This formula is simply stating what we’ve already covered. That is, to be motivated you must think your
targets are achievable, you must clearly understand any reward you might receive, and you must
actually value the reward.

In the equity theory of motivation, employee’s motivation depends on their perception of how fair is the
compensation and treatment for their work input. Equity Theory states that the employees perceive
what they get from a job situation (outcomes) about what they put into it( inputs) and then compare
their inputs- outcomes ratio with the inputs- outcomes ratios of others.The equity theory of motivation
describes the relationship between the employee’s perception of how fairly is he being treated and how
hard he is motivated to work. J. Stacy Adams developed equity theory.

This theory show-

 Inputs: Inputs include all the rich and diverse elements that employees believe they bring or
contribute to the job – their education, experience, effort, loyalty, commitment.
 Outcomes: Outcomes are rewards they perceive they get from their jobs and employers’ s
include- direct pay and bonuses, fringe benefit, job security, social rewards and psychological.
 Overrewarded: if employees fell over-rewarded equity theory predicts then they will feel an
imbalance in their relationship with their employee and seek to restore that balance.
 Equity: if employees perceive equity then they will be motivated to continue to contribute act
about the same level.
 Unrewarded: unrewarded who feel they have been unrewarded and seek to reduce their feeling
inequity through the same types of strategies but the same of this specific action is now reverse.

This theory is based on the following two assumptions about human behavior:

1. Individuals make contributions (inputs) for which they expect certain outcomes (rewards).
Inputs include such things as the person’s past training and experience, special knowledge,
personal characteristics, etc. Outcomes include pay, recognition, promotion, prestige, fringe
benefits, etc.

2.Individuals decide whether or not a particular exchange is satisfactory, by comparing their inputs
and outcomes to those of others, in the form of a ratio. Equity exists when an individual concludes that
his/her own outcome/input ratio is equal to that of other people.
The essential aspects of the equity theory may be shown by an equation;There should be a balance of
the outcomes/inputs relationship for one person in comparison with that for another person. If the
person thinks that the rewards are greater than what is considered, he/she may work harder.If the
person perceives the rewards as equitable, he/she probably will continue at the same level of output.

If the person feels that he/she is inequitably rewarded, he/she may be dissatisfied, reduce the quantity
or quality of output, or even leave the organization.

The three situations of equity theory are illustrated in the following figure:

An employee with several years’ experience can be frustrated to find out that a recent college grad hired
at a salary level higher than he or she is current earnings, causing motivation levels to drop.

Roles played by the equity in motivation;

1.Employees make comparisons between their job inputs and outcomes relative to those of others.

o If we perceive our ratio to be equal to that of the relevant others with whom we compare
ourselves, a state of equity is said to exist. We perceive our situation as fair.
o When we see the ratio as unequal, we experience equity tension.

2.Additionally, the referent that an employee selects adds to the complexity of equity theory. There are
four referent comparisons that an employee can use:

o Self-inside: An employee’s experiences in a different position inside his or her current

organization.
o Self-outside: An employee’s experiences in a situation or position outside his or her current
organization.
o Other-inside: Another individual or group of individuals inside the employee’s organization.
o Other-outside: Another individual or group of individuals outside the employee’s organization.
3.Which referent an employee chooses will be influenced by the information the employee holds about
referents, as well as by the attractiveness of the referent. There are 4 moderating variables: gender, the
length of tenure, level in the organization, and the amount of education or professionalism. Men and
women prefer same-sex comparisons. This also suggests that if women are tolerant of lower pay, it may
be due to the comparative standard they use. Employees in jobs that are not sex-segregated will make
more cross-sex comparisons than those in jobs that are either male- or female-dominated.

4.Employees with a short tenure in their current organizations tend to have little information about
others.

5.Employees with long tenure rely more heavily on coworkers for comparison.

6.Upper-level employees tend to be more cosmopolitan and have better information about people in
other organizations. Therefore, these types of employees will make more other- outside comparisons.

7.When employees perceive an inequity, they can be predicted to make one of six choices:

 Change their inputs.

 .Change their outcomes.
 Distort perceptions of self.
 .Distort perceptions of others.
 Choose a different referent.
 .Leave the field.

8.The theory establishes the following propositions relating to inequitable pay:

 Given payment by time, over-rewarded employees will produce more than will equitably pay
employees.
 Given payment by the quantity of production, over-rewarded employees will produce fewer, but
higher quality, units that will equitably pay employees.
 Given payment by time, under-rewarded employees will produce the less or poorer quality of
output.

9.Given payment by the quantity of production, under-rewarded employees will produce a large number
of low-quality units in comparison with equitably paid employees.

10.These propositions have generally been supported with a few minor qualifications.

 Inequities created by over-payment do not seem to have a very significant impact on behavior in
most work situations.
 Not all people are equity-sensitive.

11.Employees also seem to look for equity in the distribution of other organizational rewards.

12.Finally, recent research has been directed at expanding what is meant by equity or fairness.
  Historically, equity theory focused on distributive justice or the perceived fairness of the amount
and allocation of rewards among individuals.
 Equity should also consider procedural justice, the perceived fairness of the process used to
determine the distribution of rewards.
 The evidence indicates that distributive justice has a greater influence on employee satisfaction
than procedural justice,
 Procedural justice tends to affect an employee’s organizational commitment, trust in his or her
boss, and intention to quit.
 By increasing the perception of procedural fairness, employees are likely to view their bosses
and the organization as positive even if they are dissatisfied with pay, promotions, and other
personal outcomes.

Equity theory demonstrates that, for most employees, motivation is influenced significantly by relative
rewards as well as by absolute rewards, but some key issues are still unclear.

Goal Setting Theory of Motivation

Goal-setting theory of motivation states that specific and challenging goals along with appropriate
feedback contribute to higher and better task performanceGoals indicate and give direction to an
employee about what needs to be done and how much effort is required to be put in.In the 1960s,
Edwin Locke put forward the goal-setting theory of motivation. The theory states that goal setting is
essentially linked to task performance.

In the goal-setting theory, goals must be set based on 5 principles. To motivate, goals must have these.

7 Goal Setting Theory Principles:

1. Clarity.
2. Challenge.
3. Commitment.
4. Feedback.
5. Task Complexity.
6. Self-efficiency.
7. Goal commitment.
Let’s look at each of these in detail.

1. Clarity

Clear goals are measurable and unambiguous.When a goal is dear and specific, with a definite time set
for completion, there is less misunderstanding about what behaviors will be rewarded.“Reduce job
turnover by 15%” or “Respond to employee suggestions within 48 hours” are examples of dear goals.

2. Challenge

One of the most important characteristics of goals is the level of challenge.People are often motivated
by achievement, and they’ll judge a goal based on the significance of the anticipated
accomplishment.Rewards typically increase for more difficult goals. If you believe you’ll be well
compensated or otherwise rewarded for achieving a challenging goal that will boost your enthusiasm
and your drive to get it done.

If an assignment is easy and not viewed as very important – and if you or your employee doesn’t expect
the accomplishment to be significant – then the effort may not be impressive.

3. Commitment

Goals must be understood and agreed upon if they are to be effective. Employees are more likely to
“buy into” a goal if they feel they were part of creating that goal.lThe notion of participative
management rests on this idea of involving employees in setting goals and making decisions.

4. Feedback

In addition to selecting the right type of goal, an effective goal program must also include feedback.
Feedback provides opportunities to clarify expectations, adjust goal difficulty, and gain recognition.It’s
important to provide benchmark opportunities or targets, so individuals can determine for themselves
how they’re doing.

5. Task complexity

The last factor in the goal-setting theory introduces two more requirements for success. For goals or
assignments that are highly complex, take special care to ensure that the work doesn’t become too
overwhelming.Goal-setting theory has certain eventualities such as Self-efficiency and Goal
commitment.

6. Self-efficiency

Self-efficiency is the individual’s self-confidence and faith that he has potential.if performing the task.
Higher the level of self-efficiency, greater will be the efforts pm in by the individual when they face
challenging tasks.While lower the level of self-efficiency, less will be the efforts put in by the individual
or he might even quit while meeting challenges.
7. Goal commitment

The goal-setting theory assumes that the individual is committed to the goal and will not leave the goal.
The goal commitment is dependent on the following factors:

 Goals are made open, known and broadcasted.

 Goals should be set-self by individuals rather than designated.

The individual’s set should be consistent with organizational goals and vision.

Features of Goal Setting Theory

1. The willingness to work towards the attainment of the goal is the main source of job motivation.
Clear, particular and difficult goals arc greater motivating factors than easy, general and vague
goals.
2. Specific and clear goals lead to greater output and better performance. Unambiguous,
measurable and clear goals accompanied by a deadline for completion avoids misunderstanding.
3. Goals should be realistic and challenging. This gives an individual a feeling of pride and triumph
when he attains them, and sets him up for the attainment of the next goal. The more
challenging the goal the greater is the reward generally and the more is the passion for
achieving it.
4. Better and appropriate feedback of results directs the employee behavior and contributes to
higher performance than an absence of feedback. Feedback is a means of gaining reputation,
making clarifications and regulating goal difficulties. It helps employees to work with more
involvement and leads to greater job satisfaction.
5. Employees’ participation in goal is not always desirable. Participation in setting the goal,
however, makes the goal more acceptable and leads to more involvement.

Advantages of Goal Setting Theory

1. Goal-setting theory is a technique used to raise incentives for employees to complete work
quickly effectively.
2. Goal setting leads to better performance by increasing motivation and efforts, but also through
increasing and improving the feedback quality.

Limitations of Goal Setting theory

1. At times, the organizational goals conflict with the managerial goals. Goal conflict has a
detrimental effect on the performance if it motivates incompatible action drift.
2. Very difficult and complex goals stimulate riskier behavior.
3. If the employee lacks skills and competencies to perform actions essential for goal, then the
goal-setting can fail and lead to an undermining of performance.
4. There is no evidence to prove that goal-setting improves job satisfaction.

01-15-21

Subject:Human Behavior Organization

Submitted by:

Ocay Lorena D.

Course:BSOA

Section:4h
Submitted to:Miss Elvi Lucila Bajador