ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR - 5 Motivation

What is it motivation? What are the differences between motivation and stimulation? Why motivation is important function of management?

Motivating individuals and teams is one of management’s perennial challenges. There is probably not a workforce in the world that could not achieve more than it currently does if only it was motivated to do so. Unfortunately, motivation is not always an obvious route for managers to take. Not everyone responds to the same motivators, for instance, as we shall see. Not even everyone responds to the same way of being communicated with or learning about new ways of doing tasks. So, motivation is a relatively complex challenge and one which many managers have faced with both frustration and determination.

The best that can be said is that progress is being made – but probably rather more slowly than many managers would like. There is no magic wand that can be waved to make people work harder or more intelligently. If there were, it would have been patented many years ago. What works for one person or one team of people will often not work for others. As we saw in the last chapter, the ability to read corporate culture is a good start; indeed, without this analysis it may be almost impossible to find any clear route to a good solution to motivational issues. But that may only be the starting point. While it is important to know what makes individuals tick, it is equally important to know how to be able to maximise this knowledge for the good of both the organisation and the individuals themselves.

There are two key theories that we need to investigate here – and many more which have stemmed from these two over the years. The first is the work done by Maslow, the second, the theories of Herzberg.

Maslow Maslow is still regarded as the father of modern motivational thinking. Although he was writing about 50 years ago, his theories are still quoted as being the foundation of much of the motivational thinking that has since been developed. Essentially his theory consists of the defining of a pyramid of needs in terms of human requirements in life and in work. The pyramid of needs is:- Biological – the basic of life, food, shelter, sex, sleep etc Safety (or Security) – in a work context, the secure tenure that means the job is safe provided the incumbent doesn’t do anything really stupid. Stability, Protection, security. Affiliation – the sense of belonging to a team or a group, the feeling that an employee is wanted because he/she does a reasonably good job. Might even include affection and respect

Esteem – the belief that an employee is valued and the recognition by which this is manifested. Status, self respect, prestige. Knowledge and understanding – developing both self and professional knowledge, perhaps through a degree course or similar Aesthetics – how pleasant the work environment and overall experience might be such as air-conditioning, restful décor and good rest facilities Self actualization – realising one’s own potential, growth, advancement, creativity Transcendence – not an easy one to translate into concrete benefits, but perhaps best summed up by a feeling of contributing to something bigger than an organisation, improving the lives and conditions of people, perhaps caring for those less well off than ourselves, in the current parlance “making a difference”

There are, naturally, a few rules about how this pyramid can be applied. For one thing, it isn’t possible to satisfy needs higher up the pyramid unless those nearer the bottom have already been satisfied. So if, for example, an organisation has not adopted a reasonable salary scale, sending everyone off on training courses might just cerate more problems than it solves. Another aspect is that needs change with time and age. As people grow older and see families grow up and depart from home, the need for money alone is often less urgent than it was when there was a family to support. Status or power might be a more valid motivator later in life. So might the opportunity to put back into society something of what a person has taken out – so the opportunity to become involved in community work on behalf of the organisation might be very welcome.

Herzberg Herzberg is the other great 1950s writers on motivation. He was broadly contemporary with Maslow and there are notable similarities between their work. His first major contribution on the topic, “Motivation to work” was published in 1959 and he followed it up with further research findings and theories over the next 20 years.

Porter model Power and abilities depends on benefits and strengths of believe in these benefits Work depends on power and abilities and personal skills and knowledge Satisfaction depends on benefits (external and internal), fairness and personal position in the company Power and abilities depends on satisfaction