THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

THEORIES OF MOTIVATION The motivation of employees is influence by job satisfaction. Job satisfaction- is the degree to which employees are satisfied with their jobs.

TYPES OF THEORIES Hawthorne Studies Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Herzberg’s Job Satisfaction McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y Theory Z Expectancy Theory Equity Theory Reinforcement Theory

Hawthorne Studies Suggest that employees are more motivated when they receive more attention

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Self- Actualization Esteem Needs Respect, prestige, recognition, power Social Needs (Social interaction, acceptance by others) Safety Needs (Job security, safe working condition) Physiological Needs (Food, shelter, clothing) Maximization of potential

Physiological needs For the most part, physiological needs are obvious - they are the literal requirements for human survival. If these requirements are not met (with the exception of clothing and shelter), the human body simply cannot continue to function. Physiological needs include: Breathing Food Sexual activity Lack of air and food will kill an individual. A lack of sexual activity would mean the extinction of humanity, probably explaining the strength of the sexual instinct in individuals.

Safety needs With their physical needs relatively satisfied, the individual's safety needs take over and dominate their behavior. These needs have to do with people's yearning for a predictable, orderly world in which injustice and inconsistency are under control, the familiar frequent and the unfamiliar rare. In the world of work, these safety needs manifest themselves in such things as a preference for job security, grievance procedures for protecting the individual from unilateral authority, savings accounts, insurance policies, and the like.

Safety needs (Contd) These have been lacking for most of human history, but at this point are mostly satisfied in the "First World" -- although the poor, both those who are poor as a class and those who are temporarily poor (university students would be an example), must often still address these needs. Safety and Security needs include: Personal security Financial security Health and well-being Safety net against accidents/illness and the adverse impacts

Social needs After physiological and safety needs are fulfilled, the third layer of human needs is social. This psychological aspect of Maslow's hierarchy involves emotionally-based relationships in general, such as: Friendship Intimacy Having a supportive and communicative family Humans need to feel a sense of belonging and acceptance, whether it comes from a large social group, such as clubs, office culture, religious groups, professional organizations, sports teams, gangs ("Safety in numbers"), or small social connections (family members, intimate partners, mentors, close colleagues, confidants). They need to love and be loved (sexually and non-sexually) by others. In the absence of these elements, many people become susceptible to loneliness, social anxiety, and clinical depression.

Social needs ( Cont’d) This need for belonging can often overcome the physiological and security needs, depending on the strength of the peer pressure; an anorexic, for example, may ignore the need to eat and the security of health for a feeling of control and belonging.

Esteem Esteem All humans have a need to be respected, to have self-esteem, self-respect. Also known as the belonging need, esteem presents the normal human desire to be accepted and valued by others. People need to engage themselves to gain recognition and have an activity or activities that give the person a sense of contribution, to feel accepted and self-valued, be it in a profession or hobby. Imbalances at this level can result in low self-esteem or an inferiority complex. People with low self-esteem need respect from others. They may seek fame or glory, which again depends on others. It may be noted, however, that many people with low self-esteem will not be able to improve their view of themselves simply by receiving fame, respect, and glory externally, but must first accept themselves internally. Psychological imbalances such as depression can also prevent one from obtaining self-esteem on both levels.

Esteem (cont’d) Most people have a need for a stable self-respect and self-esteem. Maslow noted two versions of esteem needs, a lower one and a higher one. The lower one is the need for the respect of others, the need for status, recognition, fame, prestige, and attention. The higher one is the need for self-esteem, strength, competence, mastery, self-confidence, independence and freedom. The last one is higher because it rests more on inner competence won through experience. Deprivation of these needs can lead to an inferiority complex, weakness and helplessness. Maslow stresses the dangers associated with self-esteem based on fame and outer recognition instead of inner competence. Healthy self-respect is based on earned respect.

Self-actualization The motivation to realize one's own maximum potential and possibilities is considered to be the master motive or the only real motive, all other motives being its various forms. In Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the need for self-actualization is the final need that manifests when lower level needs have been satisfied.

Herzberg’s Job Satisfaction Herzberg (1959) constructed a two-dimensional paradigm of factors affecting people's attitudes about work. Which are: Hygiene factors works- related factors that can fulfill basic needs & prevent job satisfaction Motivational factors- related factors that can lead to job satisfaction and motivate people He concluded that such factors as company policy, supervision, interpersonal relations, working conditions, and salary are hygiene factors rather than motivators.

Herzberg’s Job Satisfaction (Cont’d) According to the theory, the absence of hygiene factors can create job dissatisfaction, but their presence does not motivate or create satisfaction.  He determined from the data that the motivators were elements that enriched a person's job; he found five factors in particular that were strong determiners of job satisfaction: achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility, and advancement.

Herzberg’s Job Satisfaction (Cont’d) These motivators (satisfiers) were associated with long-term positive effects in job performance while the hygiene factors (dissatisfiers) consistently produced only short-term changes in job attitudes and performance, which quickly fell back to its previous level. 

McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y - Employees dislike work and job responsibilities and they will avoid work if possible Theory Y - Employees are willing to work and prefer more responsibility

Theory Z Workers are motivated when they are allowed to participate in decision making

Expectancy Theory Workers are motivated if potential rewards for high performance are desirable and achievable

Equity Theory Workers are motivated if they are being compensated in accordance with their perceived contribution to the firm

Reinforcement Theory Good behavior should be positively reinforced and poor behavior should be negatively reinforced to motivate workers in the future

HOW FIRMS CAN ENHANCE JOB SATISFACTION & MOTIVATION

To motivate employees: Firms can provide job enrichment programs- which is a programs designed to increase the job satisfaction of employee For examples: Adequate compensation program Job security Flexible work schedule Employee involvement program

Adequate compensation program Firms may attempt to ensure that those employees with the highest performance each year receive the highest percentage raises. The firms may used a merit system in allocates the performance of employees. Firms may attempt to reinforce excellent employee performance with other rewards as well as rises.

Adequate compensation program (Cont’d) Incentive plans provide employees with various forms of compensation if they meet specific performance goals. Examples of compensation programs: bonus(based on how many cars are sold by the workers)

Job security Employees who have job security may be more motivated to perform well. They are less likely to be distracted at work Firms can provide more job security by training employees to handle various task so they can assigned other duties if their usual assignments are no longer needed.

Flexible work schedule It also known as flextime programs- which is a programs that allow for a more flexible work schedule. For examples, the company compressed 5 days work in a week, with 8 hour-per-day work. The main purpose of this schedule is to allow employees to have 2 days weekends When the employees are on the schedule that they prefer, they are motivated to perform well.

Flexible work schedule (Cont’d) Job sharing another form of a flexible work schedule where two or more persons share a particular work schedule. Example: a firm that needs a 40-hour work week for deliveries may hire two people to share that position.

Employee involvement program Indicates that, employees are more motivated when they play a bigger role in the firm, either by being more involved in decisions or by being assigned more responsibility

Methods to allow more employee involvement & responsibility Job enlargement- a program to expend(enlarge) the job assigned to employees Job rotation- a program that allows a set of employees to periodically rotate their job assignments Empowerment- allowing employees the power to make more decisions.