Slide 1.

Management and Development

of People

Lecture: Motivation
 The Meaning of Motivation

‘Motivation is the degree to which an individual

wants and chooses to engage in certain
specified behaviours’.

Four characteristics of definitions of motivation:

– Motivation is typified as an individual phenomenon.
– Motivation is described, usually, as intentional.
– Motivation is multifaceted.
– The purpose of motivational theories is to predict
behaviour.

Mitchell
 Underlying Concept of Motivation

People’s behaviour is determined by what

motivates them. Their performance is a product
of both ability level and motivation.

Performance = function (ability × motivation)

 A Basic Motivational Model

Figure 7.1 A simplified illustration of the basic motivational model

 Extrinsic and Intrinsic Motivation

Extrinsic motivation
Intrinsic motivation

 Related to tangible  Related to psychological

rewards, e.g. salary, rewards, e.g. a sense of
security, promotion challenge and
and conditions of work achievement and
receiving appreciation
 Critical Needs of Employees:
Blanchard

 Meaningful work
 Collaboration
 Fairness
 Autonomy
 Recognition
 Growth
 Connectedness with leaders
 Connectedness with colleagues
 Higher Motivational Needs:
de Vries

 Attachment/affiliation
– The need for engagement and sharing, a
feeling of community and a sense of
belonging.

 Exploration/assertion
– The ability to play and work, a sense of fun
and enjoyment, the need for self-assertion
and the ability to choose.
 Broad Classification for
Motivation at Work

 Economic rewards
– such as pay, fringe benefits, pension rights and security
(instrumental orientation).
 Intrinsic satisfaction
– derived from the nature of work itself (personal orientation).
 Social relationships
– such as friendships, group working, status and dependency
(relational orientation).
 The Needs and Expectations of People
at Work

Figure 7.2 Needs and expectations of people at work

 Money as a Motivator

F.W. Taylor and the rational–economic needs

concept of motivation
 Taylor saw money as the main motivator for
workers.
 Employees would want the highest possible
wages.
 Their performance would only be limited by
fatigue.
 They would therefore want to work in the most
efficient way.
 The task of management was to identify the ‘one
best way’.
 Content and Process Theories
of Motivation

Content theories
Process theories
Main theorists include:
Main theorists include:
 Maslow
 Vroom
 Alderfer
 Porter and Lawler
 Herzberg
 Adams
 McClelland
 Locke
 Main Theories of Work Motivation

Figure 7.3 An overview of main theories of work motivation

 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Figure 7.4 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model

 Relating Maslow’s Model to
Work Situations

There are a few problems doing this:

– People do not necessarily satisfy their needs,
especially higher level needs, just through work.
– There is doubt about the time that elapses between
satisfying lower level and emergence of higher level
needs.
– Some rewards or outcomes may satisfy more than
one need.
– The motivating factors may not be the same for each
person.
– Job satisfaction does not necessarily lead to improved
performance.
 Applying Maslow’s Hierarchy

Table 7.1 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model

Source: Steers, R. M. and Porter, L. W. Motivation and Work Behaviour, fifth edition, McGraw-Hill (1991), p. 35. Reproduced with permission from the McGraw-Hill companies.
 Applying Maslow’s Hierarchy
(Continued)

Table 7.1 Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model (Continued)

Source: Steers, R. M. and Porter, L. W. Motivation and Work Behaviour, fifth edition, McGraw-Hill (1991), p. 35. Reproduced with permission from the McGraw-Hill companies.
 Alderfer’s Modified Need
Hierarchy Model

 Existence needs are

– concerned with sustaining human existence and
survival and covers physiological and safety needs of
a material nature.
 Relatedness needs are
– concerned with relationships to the social
environment and covers love or belonging, affiliation
and meaningful interpersonal relationships.
 Growth needs are
– concerned with the development of potential and
covers self-esteem and self-actualisation.
 Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory

Figure 7.5 Representation of Herzberg’s two-factor theory

 Maslow, Alderfer and Herzberg

Table 7.2 Linking Maslow’s, Alderfer’s and Herzberg’s theories of motivation

 McClelland and Achievement
Need

Four characteristics of people with a strong

achievement need (n-Ach):
– They prefer moderate task difficulty and goals
as an achievement incentive.
– They prefer personal responsibility for
performance.
– They have the need for clear and
unambiguous feedback on performance.
– They are more innovative.
 Characteristics of Achievement
Motivation

McClelland suggests the need for achievement

can be developed through four steps of training:
– Striving to attain feedback on performance reinforcing
of success which strengthens the desire to perform.
– Developing models of achievement by seeking to
emulate people who have performed well.
– Attempting to modify self-image and to see
themselves as needing challenges and success.
– Controlling day-dreaming and thinking about
themselves in more positive terms.
 Process Theories of Motivation

Process theories include:

 Expectancy-based models
– Vroom, Porter and Lawler
 Equity theory
– Adams
 Goal theory
– Locke
 Attribution theory
– Heider and Kelley (see chapter 6)
 Expectancy Theory: The
Motivational Link

Figure 7.6 Expectation theory: the motivational link

 Vroom’s Expectancy Theory

Based on the idea that people prefer certain outcomes from

their behaviour over others and anticipate feelings of
satisfaction should the preferred outcome be achieved:

 This feeling of anticipated satisfaction from an outcome

is termed valence.
 Expectancy is the perception of the probability that the
desired satisfaction will be achieved by the chosen
behaviour.
 The combination of valence and expectancy determines
the strength of individual motivation or motivational
force.
 Basic Model of Expectancy Theory

Figure 7.7 Basic model of expectancy theory

 Porter and Lawler’s Motivational Model

Figure 7.8 The Porter and Lawler motivation model

Source: From Porter, L. W. and Lawler, E. E. Managerial Attitudes and Performance (1968), p. 165. Copyright © 1968 Richard D. Irwin Inc. Reproduced with permission from the McGraw-Hill
Companies.
 Implications of Expectancy Theories

Managers need to:

– use rewards appropriate in terms of individual
performance;
– attempt to establish clear relationships between
effort–performance and rewards, as perceived by the
individual;
– establish clear procedures for the evaluation of
individual levels of performance;
– pay attention to intervening variables;
– minimise undesirable outcomes that may be
perceived to result from a high level of performance,
e.g. industrial accidents.
 Equity Theory: Adams

Equity theory focuses on people’s feelings of how

fairly they have been treated in comparison with
the treatment received by others
Suggests six broad types of possible behaviour
which result from a sense of inequity
– Changes to input levels
– Changes to outcomes
– Cognitive distortion of inputs and outcomes
– Leaving the field
– Acting on others
– Changing the object of comparison
 Illustration of Adams’ Equity Theory

Figure 7.10 An illustration of Adams’s equity theory of motivation

 Goal Theory: Locke

Figure 7.11 An illustration of Locke’s theory of goal-setting

 Implications of Goal Theory

Practical implications for the manager of goal

theory include:
– The need for systematic identification of specific performance
goals.
– The need for goals to be challenging but realistic.
– The importance of complete, accurate and timely feedback on
results.
– The need for goals to be determined either by a superior or by
the individual themselves.
 Organisational Behaviour Modification

Luthans and Kreitner suggest that OBMod ‘represents a

merging of behavioral learning theory on the one hand and
organizational behavior theory on the other’.
Five steps to learn desired and eliminating undesired
behaviours:
1. Identify behaviours relevant to desired organisational
performance.
2. Measure the frequency with which they occur as a baseline.
3. Determine antecedents, reinforcements and consequences.
4. Develop an intervention strategy for positive change.
5. Measure and evaluate the change.
 Motivating Knowledge Workers

Figure 7.13 Motivating knowledge workers

Source: Tampoe, M. ‘Knowledge Workers: The New Management Challenge’, Professional Manager, Institute of Management, November 1994, p. 13. Reproduced with permission from Chartered
Management Institute.
 A basic model of frustration

Figure 7.14 A basic model of frustration

 Factors influencing individual
reactions to frustration

 The level and potency of need

 The degree of attachment to the desired goal
 The strength of motivation
 The perceived nature of the barrier or blocking
agent
 The personality characteristics of the individual
 Reducing Potential Frustration

 Effective recruitment,  Recognition and rewards

selection and socialisation
 Training and development
 Job design and work
organisation
 Equitable personnel
policies
 Effective communications
 Participative styles of
management
 Attempting to understand
the individual’s perception
of the situation
 The Meaning and Nature of
Job Satisfaction

An attitude or internal state that is associated with

the working environment and working
experiences.

Key questions for managers:

– Does job satisfaction cause good performance or does good
performance cause job satisfaction?
– Or both?
 Job Satisfaction Dimensions

Levels of job satisfaction can be affected by a wide

range of variables including:

– Individual factors

– Social factors

– Cultural factors

– Organisational factors

– Environmental factors
 Five Frustrations of Work: Palmer

Five obstacles to a successful working

environment which managers may need to fix:
– Waste of time meetings
– Mis-leadership
– Blurred vision
– Silo mentality
– Unfairness
 Alienation at Work

Alienation refers to the detachment of the person

from their work role. Marx viewed the division of
labour as a means by which workers became
estranged from their work.

Blauner identifies four dimensions of alienation:

– Powerlessness
– Meaninglessness
– Isolation
– Self-estrangement
 Job Enrichment and Work
Motivation

By increasing the skill variety, task identify, task

significance, autonomy and feedback processes,
job enrichment can create three positive
psychological states:
– Experienced meaningfulness of the work
– Experienced responsibility for the outcome
– Knowledge of the actual results

Hackman and Oldham

 A Job Characteristics Model of
Work Motivation

Figure 7.15 A job characteristics model of work motivation

Source: Hackman, J. R. and Oldham, G. R. Work Redesign, Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc. (1980), Figure 4.6, p. 90. Reproduced with permission from Pearson
Education, Inc.
 Motivating Potential Score

{Skill variety + Task identify + Task significance}

MPS = X Autonomy X Feedback

3
 Contextual Factors in Job Design

 Organisational culture
 Organisational structure
 Systems of management
 Style of leadership
 Trade unions
 Human Resources policies and procedures
 Communications
 Group norms
 Ergonomics
 The management of change
 The working environment
 Key Take Aways

 All the theories of motivation have their

strengths and weaknesses
 Some theories have been found to be more
useful than others in organisations
 It might be useful to use aspects of the
different theories for motivating employees
at work.
 References & Further Reading

Arnold, J.; Silvester, J.; Patterson, F.; Robertson, I.; Cooper, C.; Burnes, B. (2005). Work
Psychology. Understanding Human Behaviour in the Workplace. 4 th Edition. Financial
Times, Prentice Hall.
Hackman, J.R. and Oldham, G.R. (1976). Motivation through the design of work: test of a
theory. Organisational Behaviour and Human Performance. 16(2), 250-279.
Huczynski, A. and Buchanan, D. (2007). Organizational Behaviour. 6 th Edition. Financial
Times, Prentice Hall.
Lawler, E. E. (1973). Motivation in work organizations. New York: Brooks-Cole.
Locke, E. A. (1968) Towards a theory of task performance and incentives. Organisational
Behaviour and Human Performance. 3(2), 157-189.
Robbins S.P., Judge T.A., and Campbell, T. (2010). Organizational Behaviour. Financial
Times, Prentice Hall.
Saybrook University, 2011. Biology isn't enough: new evidence backs up Maslow [online].
Available at: <http://www.newexistentialists.com/posts/07-22-11> [Accessed 14 October
2011].
Vroom. V.H. (1964). Work and Motivation. New York: Wiley.
 References & Further Reading

 Mullins, L.J. 2010. Management and Organisational

Behaviour. 10th Ed.
- Chapter 7
 Handout: Motivation