MOTIVATION : NEED, CONTENT AND PROCESS

OBJECTIVE OF STUDY

Work Motivation Approaches

The content Theories of Motivation Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory of Motivation Alderfer’s ERG Theory.

The Process Theory Of MotivationVroom’s Expectancy Theory of Motivation.The Porter-Lawler Model

Contemporary Theories Of Motivation.Cognitive Evaluation TheoryGoal-Setting TheorySelf-Efficacy TheoryReinforcement TheoryEquity Theory.

WORK MOTIVATION APPROACHES

INTRODUCTION:

Motivation is a psychological process consisting of primary, general, and secondary motives; drives such as the n Pow, n Aff and n Ach motives; and intrinsic and extrinsic motivators. In order to understand organization behavior, these basic motives must be recognized and studied. These motives serves as only the background and foundation for the work-motivation theories.

Meaning of Work Motivation:

Work Motivation is the set of external and internal force that causes an employee to choose a course of action engage in certain behavior , these behavior will be directed at the achievement of organizational goal

The three historical streams of work-motivation theories are

CONTENT THEORIES:

Content theories focus on need and deficiencies that activate tension and which influence satisfaction and behavior. These theories suggest that manager’s job is to create work environment that respond positively to individual needs. These theories answer to the question “ What factors in workplace motivate the people?” These theories goes back to the twentieth centuries where Scientific managers such as F.W Taylor, Frank Gilbert proposed wage incentive models to motivate workers. Next came Human Relation models and the content theories of

Maslow’s Hierarchy of NeedsHerzberg’s Two factor Theories of MotivationAlderfer’s ERG Theory

PROCESS THEORIES:

Process theories describe the process through which needs are translated into behavior. It focus on thought or cognitive process that take place within the mind of people and act to influence their behavior. Process Theories are Vroom’s Expectancy Theory of MotivationThe Porter- Lawler Model

CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF WORK MOTIVATION: Contemporary theories represent the current state of thinking in explaining employee motivation and they were recently developed. Contemporary Theories areCognitive Evaluation TheoryGoal setting TheorySelf Efficacy TheoryReinforcement TheoryEquity Theory

WORK MOTIVATION

CONTENT THEORIES PROCESS THEORIESCONTEMPORARY

THEORIES

Scientific management –Wage Incentive

Human RelationEconomic security, working condition

MaslowHierarchy of Needs

HerzbergMotivation &

Hygiene Factor

Alderfer’s ERG Needs

Vroom'sValency/

expectancy

Porter and LawlerPerformance -satisfaction

Cognitive Evaluation Theory

Self –Efficacy Theory

Reinforcement Theory

Adam’s Equity Theory

Goal Setting Theory

THE CONTENT THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

The Content theories of Motivation are also known as the early theories of motivation. One should learn these theories of motivation for at least two reasonThey represent foundation from which contemporary theories have grownPracticing manager still regularly use these theories and their terminology in explaining employee motivation.

MASLOW’S HIRARCHY OF NEEDS:

It is the most well-known theory of Motivation. In 1943, Abraham Maslow, the famous psychologist, released Maslow's hierarchy of needs in his well-known paper: A Theory of Human Motivation In his work, he outlined the elements of an overall theory of motivation.Drawing chiefly from human psychology and his experience, he thought that a person’s motivational needs could be arranged in an hierarchical manner.

Maslow hypothesized that within every individual, their exist a hierarchy of five needs

PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS: The physiological needs refer to unlearned primary need such as hunger, thirst, sleep, sex etc. According to this theory, once these basic needs are satisfied, they no longer motivate.

SAFETY NEEDS: The second level of need refer to Security needs. Maslow stressed emotional as well as physical security. As true for physiological need, once these needs are satisfied, they no longer motivate.

LOVE NEEDS: This the third or intermediate level of need for affection and affiliation. This refer to need of belongingness or social need such as friendship.

ESTEEM NEEDS: The esteem level represent the higher needs of humans. The need for power, achievement, status, self-respect, recognition etc. He pointed out that esteem level include self-esteem and esteem from others

SELF-ACTUALIZATION NEEDS: It refer to the drive to become what one is capable of becoming includes growth, achieving one’s potential and self-fulfillment.

Maslow separated the five needs into higher and lower orders.LOWER ORDER NEEDS: Lower order needs refer to those needs which are satisfied externally ( by, pay, tenure, union contract). It includes the physiological and safety needsHIGHER ORDER NEEDS: Higher order needs refer to those which are satisfied internally( within the person). It includes the social, esteem and self-actualization needs.

HIS ASSUMPTION:

There are five levels of needs.He believed that when one need is satisfied, it no longer serves to motivate. The next level of need has to be activated in order to motivate the individual.The Physiological and safety needs are finite but the needs of higher order are infinite and are likely to be dominant in person at higher levels of organization.

He stressed that higher needs emerged after lower needs are fulfilled.He stressed that human behavior is multidetermined and multimotivated.He suggested that various levels are interdependent and overlapping

CRITICISM AND CONCLUSION

Research findings indicate that Maslow’s is certainly not the final answer in work motivation. Yet the theory does make a significant contribution in terms of making management aware of the diverse need of employees at work.Needs such as social and self-actualization are important to the content of work motivation. The exact nature of these need and how they relate to motivation are not clear.There is lack of hierarchical structure of needs suggested by Maslow. Some people may be deprived of lower level need but strive for self actualization.There is lack of direct cause and effect relationship between need and behaviorSometimes people are not aware of their own needs.Measurement of satisfaction of needs is not possible.

HERZBERG’S TWO-FACTOR THEORY OF MOTIVATION

Another historically important contribution to work motivation is the content theory of Frederick Herzberg. This theory is also known as MOTIVATION-HYGIENE THEORY.

Herzberg investigated the question “ What do people want from their jobs?”.

He conducted motivational study on about 200 accountant and engineers employed by firm in and around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The professional subject in study were asked two questions?

1. When did you feel particularly good about your job-what turned you on; and

2. When did you feel exceptionally bad about your job-what turned you off?

Response obtained from the subject were interesting and fairly consistent. Reported good feelings were generally associated with job experience and job content. Reported bad feeling were generally associated with the surrounding aspect of the job- the job Context.

MOTIVATION FACTOR: Motivation factors are intrinsic in nature. They have positive effect on job satisfaction and leads to increase in output. If these factors are present they motivate, if absent does not leads to dissatisfaction. They are also known as job satisfier which are related to job content. Example, Achievement, advancement, growth, recognition, work itself, responsibility.HYGIENE FACTORS: Hygiene factors are extrinsic in nature and do not motivate people. If these factor are present they do not motivate, if they are absent leads to dissatisfaction. They are also known as Job dissatisfier allied to job context. Example, company policy, supervision, interpersonal relationship, salary, working condition etcThus, the motivators and the hygiene factor have become known as Herzberg’s two-factor theory of motivation.

He Proposed that opposite of satisfaction is not dissatisfaction. Removing dissatisfying characteristic from job does not necessarily make job satisfying.He proposed that the opposite of “satisfaction” is “no satisfaction” and the opposite of “dissatisfaction” is “ no dissatisfaction”

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF HERZBERG THEORY AND CONCLUSION

Any improvement in motivation factors do not motivate a worker but their reduction below certain level will dissatisfy themThis model is not applicable in all condition. There is mix-up of both factor in job, which cannot be separated as intrinsic and extrinsic This study is limited to accountant and engineer. The effect of hygiene and motivational factor may be totally reverse for others categories of people.The scope of this study is narrow as only 200 respondents were interviewed and method of data collection and interview was not appropriate as they were asked to report exceptionally good or exceptionally bad experiences.

ALDERFER’S ERG THEORY

Clayton Alderfer attempted to rework Maslow’s need hierarchy to align it more closely with empirical research. His revised need hierarchy is labelled ERG Theory.

He identified three core needs:EXISTENCE NEED- Desire for physiological and material-well ( Related to Maslow’s Physiological and safety needs)

RELATEDNESS NEED- Desire for satisfying interpersonal needs( Related to Maslow’s Social and Extrinsic self-esteem need for status, recognition and attention.

GROWTH NEED- Desire for continuous psychological growth and development ( Related to Maslow’s intrinsic self-esteem such as self-respect, achievements, autonomy and Self-actualization need.

 

DIFFERENCES FROM MASLOW'S NEEDS HIERARCHY AND CONCLUSION

Beyond simply reducing the distinction between overlapping needs, the ERG theory improves upon the following shortcomings of Maslow's Needs Hierarchy:

Alderfers ERG theory demonstrates that more than one need may motivate at the same time. A lower motivator need not be substantially satisfied before one can move onto higher motivators. The ERG theory also accounts for differences in need preferences between cultures better than Maslow's Need Hierarchy; the order of needs can be different for different people. This flexibility accounts for a wider range of observed behaviors. For example, it can explain the "starving artist" who may place growth needs above those of existence. The ERG theory acknowledges that if a higher-order need is frustrated, an individual may regress to increase the satisfaction of a lower-order need which appears easier to satisfy. This is known as the frustration-regression principle.

COMAPRISION OF MASLOW’S , HERZBERG’S AND ALDERFER’S THEORY

OF MOTIVATION

THE PROCESS THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

VROOM’S EXPECTANCY THEORY OF MOTIVATION

The Expectancy Theory of Motivation is one of the process theories. It provides an explanation of why individuals choose one behavioral option over othersThis theory was developed by Psychologist Victor H. Vroom.This theory is built upon the idea that motivation comes from a person believing they will get what they want in the form of performance or rewards This theory argues that the strength of tendency to act in certain way depends on the strength of an expectation that the act will be followed by the given outcome and on the attractiveness of that outcome to the individual.To make this simple, expectancy theory says that an employee can be motivated to perform better when there is a belief that the better performance will lead to good performance appraisal and that good performance appraisal will lead to organizational rewards such as bonuses, salary increase or promotion and the reward will satisfy the employees personal goalThe theory states that individuals have different sets of goals and can be motivated if they believe that:•There is a positive correlation between efforts and performance.•Favourable performance will result in a desirable reward.•The reward will satisfy an important need.

FOCUS ON THREE RELATIONSHIPS

Effort-Performance relationship: The probability perceived by an individual that given amount of efforts will lead to performance.Performance-Reward relationship: The degree to which individual believe that performing at particular level will lead to the attainment of a desired outcome.Rewards- Personal goal relationship: The degree to which organizational goal satisfy an individual’s personal need or goal and the attractiveness of those potential rewards for the individual.

VROOM'S EXPECTANCY THEORY IS BASED ON THESE THREE COMPONENTS:EXPECTANCY:Expectancy can be described as the belief that higher or increased effort will yield better performance. This can be explained by the thinking of "If I work harder, I will make something better".INSTRUMENTALITY:Instrumentality can be described as the thought that if an individual performs well, then a valued outcome will come to that individual. VALENCE:Valence means "value" and refers to beliefs about outcome desirability . Valence can be thought of as the pressure or importance that a person puts on an expected outcome.

Vroom concludes that the force of motivation in an employee can be calculated using the formula: Motivation =Valence*Expectancy*Instrumentality

THE PORTER-LAWLER MODEL The Maslow and Herzberg Content theories assumes that satisfaction leads to improved performance and that dissatisfaction detracts from performance. The Herzberg Model is really the theory of job satisfaction but is fails to explain the relationship between satisfaction and performance.This theory is based on assumption that motivation(efforts or force) does not equal to satisfaction or performance. Motivation, satisfaction and performance are all separate variables and relate in ways different from what was traditionally assumed.This theory explain the complex relationships that exist among motivation, performance, and satisfaction.This model is drawn from earlier cognitive concept from Social psychologist Kurt Lewin and Edward Tolman and Theory of Victor vroomThis theory argues that efforts does not leads directly to performance.Performance is affected by two factor such as 1.Person’s ability to do the job.2.Individual perception of what the required task is.More important is what happens after performance. The reward that follow and how it is perceived leads to satisfaction. This is turn from conventional view that performance leads to satisfaction.

CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF WORK MOTIVATION

COGNITIVE EVALUATION THEORY:

“It’s strange,” said Ritu. “ I started work at an NGO as volunteer. I put in 18 hours a week helping people adopt pets. And I loved coming to work. Then, 3 months ago, they hired me full time at INR 28000 a month ago. I’m doing the same work I did before. But I am not finding it near as much as fun.” The explanation to Ritu’s reaction is Cognitive Evaluation Theory.This theory states that allocating extrinsic rewards for the behavior that have been previously intrinsically rewarding tend to decrease the overall level of motivation. Another reason is that individual experience loss of control over her own behavior so that the previous intrinsic motivation diminishes.If Cognitive evaluation is valid, it should have major implication for managerial practices. Compensation specialist argues that extrinsic rewards should be made contingent on the individual performance. But Cognitive evaluation theorist argue that if extrinsic reward are made contingent it will lead to decrease in internal satisfaction that individual receive from doing job.Extrinsic rewards that are verbal or tangible can have different effect on individual’s intrinsic motivation. Verbal rewards increases intrinsic motivation, whereas tangible rewards undermine it.

OB research suggests that people who pursue work goal for intrinsic reasons are more satisfied with their jobs, feel like they fit into their organization better and perform better. Choose your job carefully. Make sure you’re choosing to do something for reason other than extrinsic rewards.

GOAL SETTING THEORY

The Intention to work towards a goal are a major source of work satisfaction.Goals tell employees what needs to be done and how much efforts is to be expended.Specific goals increases performance: that difficult goals, when accepted result in higher performance than do easy goals; and feedback leads to higher performance than does nonfeedback.If factors that acceptance of goal held constant , we can state that more difficult the goal higher will be the performance. The reason why people are motivated by difficult goal are1. Difficult goal direct our attention to task in hand.2. They energize us because we have to work harder to attain them.3. When goals are difficult, people persist in trying to attain them4. It leads to discover strategies that help us perform the job effectively.

People do better when they get feedback on how well they are progressing towards their goals because feedback helps to identify discrepancies between what they have done and what they want to do; it guides behaviorBy participation in goal setting process, it result in easy acceptance of goals.There are three factors found to influence goals namely,1.Goal commitment-Goal commitment is likely to occur when goals are made public, when individual have internal locus of control and when goals are self-set.2. Task Characteristics-Evidence suggest that goals seems to have a more substantial effect on performance when task is simple rather than complex, well learned rather novel.3. Culture bound- Goals setting theory is culture bound.

MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES:A more Systematic way to utilize goal setting is with Management by objectives.A Program that encompasses specific goals, participatively set, for an explicit time period with feedback on goal progress.Only difference b/w goal setting and MBO is the participation in decision making

WHY MBO FAIL?Unrealistic expectations about MBO resultsLack of commitment by top managementFailure to allocate reward properlyCultural incompatibilities

Key Elements

1. Goal specificity

2. Participative decision making

3. An explicit time period

4. Performance feedback

Key Elements

1. Goal specificity

2. Participative decision making

3. An explicit time period

4. Performance feedback

CASCADING OF OBJECTIVES

SELF-EFFICACY THEORY Self-efficacy is also known as Social cognitive theory or Social learning theory.This theory is developed by Albert Bandura.It refers to individual belief that he or she is capable of performing task. The higher the self-efficacy, the more confidence you have in your ability to succeed in task.Individual higher with self-efficacy seem to respond to negative feedback with increased effort and motivation, while those low in self-efficacy are likely to lessen their effort when given negative feedback.Goal setting theory and Self-efficacy theory are complement to each other. Bandura argues that there are four ways to increase Self-efficacy1. ENACTIVE MASTERY- gaining relevant experience with the

task .2. VICARIOUS MODELLING- Becoming more confident

because you see someone else doing the task.3. VERBAL PERSUASION- Becoming more confident because

someone convince you that you have the skills necessary to be successful.

4. AROUSAL-It leads to energized state which drives a person to complete task

People with a strong sense of self-efficacy:View challenging problems as tasks to be mastered.Develop deeper interest in the activities in which they participate.Form a stronger sense of commitment to their interests and activities.Recover quickly from setbacks and disappointments.People with a weak sense of self-efficacy:Avoid challenging tasks.Believe that difficult tasks and situations are beyond their capabilities.Focus on personal failings and negative outcomes.

REINFORCEMENT THEORY

Reinforcement theory of motivation was proposed by B F Skinner and his associates. It states that individual’s behaviour is a function of its consequences. It is based on “law of effect”, i.e., individual’s behaviour with positive consequences tends to be repeated, but individual’s behaviour with negative consequences tends not to be repeated.Reinforcement theory of motivation overlooks the internal state of individual, i.e., the inner feelings and drives of individuals are ignored by Skinner. This theory focuses totally on what happens to an individual when he takes some action. Thus, according to Skinner, the external environment of the organization must be designed effectively and positively so as to motivate the employee. This theory is a strong tool for analyzing controlling mechanism for individual’s behaviour. However, it does not focus on the causes of individual’s behaviour.

EQUITY THEORY

The equity theory is based on the PRINCIPLE OF BALANCE OR EQUITY. This theory states that individuals compare their inputs and outcomes with those of others and then respond to eliminate any inequities.

EQUITY THEORY

Ratio Comparison Perception

O/I a < O/I b Under-rewarded (Equity Tension)

O/I a = O/I b Equity

O/I a > O/I b Over-rewarded (Equity Tension)

NEGATIVE TENSION STATE: Equity is perceived when this ratio is equal. While if this ratio is unequal, it leads to “equity tension”. J.STACY ADAMS called this a negative tension state which motivates him to do something right to relieve this tension. A comparison has been made between 2 workers a and b to understand this point.

REFERENTS: The four comparisons an employee can make have been termed as “referents”. The referent chosen is a significant variable in equity theory. These referents are as follows:

Self-inside: An employee’s experience in a different position inside his present organization.Self-outside: An employee’s experience in a situation outside the present organization.Other-inside: Another employee or group of employees inside the employee’s present organization.Other-outside: Another employee or employees outside the employee’s present organization.

CHOICES: The employees who perceive inequity and are under negative tension can make the following choices:

Change in input (e.g. Don’t overexert)

Change their outcome (Produce quantity output and increasing earning by sacrificing quality when piece rate incentive system exist)

Choose a different referent

Quit the job

Change self perception (For instance - I know that I’ve performed better and harder than everyone else.)

Change perception of others (For instance - Jack’s job is not as desirable as I earlier thought it was.)

Assumptions of the Equity TheoryThe theory demonstrates that the individuals are concerned both with their own rewards and also with what others get in their comparison. Employees expect a fair and equitable return for their contribution to their jobs. Employees decide what their equitable return should be after comparing their inputs and outcomes with those of their colleagues. Employees who perceive themselves as being in an inequitable scenario will attempt to reduce the inequity either by distorting inputs and/or outcomes psychologically, by directly altering inputs and/or outputs, or by quitting the organization.

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