MODULE 2

MOTIVATION
Motivation is one of the forces that lead to performance. Motivation is
defined as the desire to achieve a goal or a certain performance level,
leading to goal-directed behavior. When we refer to someone as being
motivated, we mean that the person is trying hard to accomplish a
certain task. Motivation is clearly important if someone is to perform
well;
However, it is not sufficient. Ability—or having the skills and
knowledge required to perform the job—is also important and is
sometimes the key determinant of effectiveness.
Finally, environmental factors such as having the resources, information,
and support one needs to perform well are critical to determine
performance. At different times, one of these three factors may be the
key to high performance.

For example, for an employee sweeping the floor, motivation may be the
most important factor that determines performance. In contrast, even the
most motivated individual would not be able to successfully design a
house without the necessary talent involved in building quality homes.
Being motivated is not the same as being a high performer and is not the
sole reason why people perform well, but it is nevertheless a key
influence over our performance level.

RELEVANCE OF MOTIVATION TO INDIVIDUAL

AND ORGANISATION
Motivation is a very important for an organization because of the
following benefits it provides:
Puts human resources into action
Every concern requires physical, financial and human resources to
accomplish the goals. It is through motivation that the human resources
can be utilized by making full use of it. This can be done by building
willingness in employees to work. This will help the enterprise in
securing best possible utilization of resources.

Improves level of efficiency of employees

The level of a subordinate or a employee does not only depend upon his
qualifications and abilities. For getting best of his work performance, the
gap between ability and willingness has to be filled which helps in
improving the level of performance of subordinates. This will result
into-
 Increase in productivity,
 Reducing cost of operations, and
 Improving overall efficiency.

Leads to achievement of organizational goals

The goals of an enterprise can be achieved only when the following
factors take place :-
 There is best possible utilization of resources,
 There is a co-operative work environment,
 The employees are goal-directed and they act in a purposive
manner,
 Goals can be achieved if co-ordination and co-operation takes
place simultaneously which can be effectively done through
motivation.

Builds friendly relationship

Motivation is an important factor which brings employees satisfaction.
This can be done by keeping into mind and framing an incentive plan for
the benefit of the employees. This could initiate the following things:
 Monetary and non-monetary incentives,
 Promotion opportunities for employees,
 Disincentives for inefficient employees.
Leads to stability of work force
Stability of workforce is very important from the point of view of
reputation and goodwill of a concern. The employees can remain loyal
to the enterprise only when they have a feeling of participation in the
management. The skills and efficiency of employees will always be of
advantage to employees as well as employees. This will lead to a good
public image in the market which will attract competent and qualified
people into a concern. As it is said, “Old is gold” which suffices with the
role of motivation here, the older the people, more the experience and
their adjustment into a concern which can be of benefit to the enterprise.

From the above discussion, we can say that motivation is an internal

feeling which can be understood only by manager since he is in close
contact with the employees. Needs, wants and desires are inter-related
and they are the driving force to act. These needs can be understood by
the manager and he can frame motivation plans accordingly. We can say
that motivation therefore is a continuous process since motivation
process is based on needs which are unlimited. The process has to be
continued throughout.

We can summarize by saying that motivation is important both to an

individual and a business. Motivation is important to an individual
as:
 Motivation will help him achieve his personal goals.
 If an individual is motivated, he will have job satisfaction.
 Motivation will help in self-development of individual.
 An individual would always gain by working with a dynamic team.
Similarly, motivation is important to a business as:
 The more motivated the employees are, the more empowered the
team is.
 The more is the team work and individual employee contribution,
more profitable and successful is the business.
 During period of amendments, there will be more adaptability and
creativity.
  Motivation will lead to an optimistic and challenging attitude at
work place.

MASLOW’S THEORY

Maslow (1943, 1954) stated that people are motivated to achieve certain
needs and that some needs take precedence over others. Our most basic
need is for physical survival, and this will be the first thing that
motivates our behavior. Once that level is fulfilled the next level up is
what motivates us, and so on.
1. Physiological needs - these are biological requirements for human
survival, e.g. air, food, drink, shelter, clothing, warmth, sex, sleep.
If these needs are not satisfied the human body cannot function
optimally. Maslow considered physiological needs the most important as
all the other needs become secondary until these needs are met.
2. Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law,
stability, freedom from fear.
3. Love and belongingness needs - after physiological and safety needs
have been fulfilled, the third level of human needs is social and involves
feelings of belongingness. The need for interpersonal relationships
motivates behavior
Examples include friendship, intimacy, trust, and acceptance, receiving
and giving affection and love. Affiliating, being part of a group (family,
friends, work).
4. Esteem needs - which Maslow classified into two categories: (i)
esteem for oneself (dignity, achievement, mastery, independence) and
(ii) the desire for reputation or respect from others (e.g., status, prestige).
Maslow indicated that the need for respect or reputation is most
important for children and adolescents and precedes real self-esteem or
dignity.
5. Self-actualization needs - realizing personal potential, self-
fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences. A desire “to
become everything one is capable of becoming”(Maslow, 1987, p. 64).

Maslow theory has been widely appreciated due to following

reasons:
(i) Maslow’s theory of motivation helps the managers in understanding
how to motivate the employers.

(ii) Maslow’s theory of motivation theory is very simple, common and

easily understandable.

(iii) It accounts for both inter-personal and intra-personal variations in

human behaviour.

(iv) Maslow’s theory of motivation theory is dynamic because it

presents motivation as a changing force; changing from one level of
needs to the other.

Criticisms of Maslow’s Theory of Motivation:

Despite the appreciation for this theory, it has been criticised by
many on the following grounds:
1. Researchers have proved that there is lack of hierarchical structure of
needs as suggested by Maslow, though every individual has some
ordering for his need satisfaction.

Some people may be deprived of their lower level needs but may still
strive for self actualisation needs. The example of MAHATMA
GANDHI is one of the most important. There are always some people to
whom, the need for self-esteem is more prominent than social needs.

2. Another problem is that there is a lack of direct cause and effect

relationship between need and behaviour. One particular need may cause
different type of behaviour in different persons. On the other hand, as a
particular individual behaviour may be due to the result of different
needs. Thus, need hierarchy is not as simple as it appears to be.

3. Need and satisfaction of needs is a psychological feeling. Sometimes

even the person may not be aware about his own needs. How can the
managers come to know about these needs?

4. Some people say that hierarchy of need simply does not exist. At all
levels needs are present at given time. An individual motivated by self
actualisation needs cannot afford to forget his food. But this criticism is
solved by Maslow by saying that needs are interdependent and
overlapping.

5. Another problem with Maslow’s theory of motivation is the

operationalisation of some of his concepts which makes it difficult for
the researchers to test his theory. For instance, how does one measure
self actualisation?

Despite its drawbacks, Maslow’s theory offers managers a good handle

on understanding the motives or needs of individuals and how to
motivate organisational members.
Two Factor Theory by Frederick Herzberg
This theory, also called the Motivation-Hygiene Theory or the dual-
factor theory, was penned by Frederick Herzberg in 1959. This
American psychologist, who was very interested in
people’s motivation and job satisfaction, came up with the theory. He
conducted his research by asking a group of people about their good and
bad experiences at work. He was surprised that the group answered
questions about their good experiences very differently from the ones
about their bad experiences.

Based on this, he developed the theory that people’s job satisfaction

depends on two kinds of factors. Factors –

for satisfaction (motivators/satisfiers) and factors

for dissatisfaction (hygiene factors/ dissatisfiers).
Performance, recognition, job status, responsibility and opportunities for
growth all fall under motivators/ satisfiers.
Hygiene factors/dissatisfiers are about salary, secondary working
conditions, the relationship with colleagues, physical work place and the
relationship between supervisor and employee.
In his theory, Herzberg claims these factors function on the same plane.
In other words, satisfaction and dissatisfaction aren’t polar opposites.
Taking away an employee’s dissatisfaction – for example by offering a
higher salary – doesn’t necessarily mean the employee will then be
satisfied. The employee is just no longer dissatisfied.
4 different combinations can exist at work:

1: High hygiene and high motivation

This is the ideal situation. Employees are very motivated and barely
have any complaints.

2: High hygiene and low motivation

Employees have few complaints, but they’re not really motivated, they
see their work simply as a pay check.

3: Low hygiene and high motivation

Employees are motivated, their job is challenging, but they have
complaints about salary or work conditions.

4: Low hygiene and low motivation

This is the worst possible situation, employees are not motivated and
have a lot of complaints.
KITA
Adjusting the hygiene factors, also called the KITA (Kick in the Ass)
factors by Herzberg, often have a short-term effect that doesn’t last very
long. Changing the motivation factors on the other hand often has a
more lasting, long-term effect on employee performance.

How to apply the Two Factor Theory?

Organisations and their managers want teams with the best possible
performance. But how do you motivate that team? There’s not much
point in motivating employees if the hygiene factors aren’t taken care
off. Motivating people really works when the things that bother them –
the things they complain about -disappear.

Take away the dissatisfaction

To do this, it’s important to figure out all the important factors first.
What are the complaints about, what’s going on, how do the employees
interact with each other?
Generally speaking, the following aspects are important:

 Work on the bureaucracy within the organisation

 Make sure there’s supportive and effective supervision
 Create a work environment where all employees are respected
 Pay an honest salary
 Make sure all employees do worthwhile work to build up the status
of their functions
 Give job guarantees

When the dissatisfaction is taken away, the organisation can focus on

motivating its employees effectively.

Create conditions for satisfaction

For motivation within the organisation, think about:

 Creating conditions for good performance

 Appreciating your employees’ contributions
 Tailoring the work to your employees’ talents and abilities
 Giving each team as much responsibility as possible
 Offering opportunities for growth within the organisation
 Offering training and development opportunities

Organisations are prone to take Kick In The Ass measures in the short
term, because they don’t affect the organisational structure that much. A
higher salary, better work conditions etc. Measures for motivation
require bigger investments and changes to the organisational culture.

Critique
The Two Factor Theory is widely used, but there are a few points issues
with it. One issue is the fact that humans tend to look at the aspects of
their work that they like and project them onto themselves when things
are going well. When times are bad, external factors seem to play a
larger part.
Another point of criticism is that the Two Factor Theory assumes that
job satisfaction equals higher productivity. There are plenty of reasons to
disagree, like external factors that might influence productivity.
Herzberg didn’t take this into account while researching and coming up
with his theory.

McClelland's Theory
In the early 1940s, Abraham Maslow created his theory of needs . This
identified the basic needs that human beings have, in order of their
importance: physiological needs, safety needs, and the needs for
belonging, self-esteem and "self-actualization".
Later, David McClelland built on this work in his 1961 book, "The
Achieving Society." He identified three motivators that he believed we
all have: a need for achievement, a need for affiliation, and a need for
power. People will have different characteristics depending on their
dominant motivator.
According to McClelland, these motivators are learned (which is why
this theory is sometimes called the Learned Needs Theory).
McClelland says 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.
These characteristics are as follows:

Dominant
Characteristics of This Person
Motivator

Achievement
 Has a strong need to set and accomplish
Dominant
Characteristics of This Person
Motivator

challenging goals.
 Takes calculated risks to accomplish their goals.
 Likes to receive regular feedback on their
progress and achievements.
 Often likes to work alone.

 Wants to belong to the group.

 Wants to be liked, and will often go along with
whatever the rest of the group wants to do.
 Favors collaboration over competition.
Affiliation  Doesn't like high risk or uncertainty.

 Wants to control and influence others.

 Likes to win arguments.
 Enjoys competition and winning.
Power  Enjoys status and recognition.

Note:
Those with a strong power motivator are often divided into two groups:
personal and institutional. People with a personal power drive want to
control others, while people with an institutional power drive like to
organize the efforts of a team to further the company's goals. As you can
probably imagine, those with an institutional power need are usually
more desirable as team members!
Using the Theory

McClelland's theory can help you to identify the dominant motivators of

people on your team. You can then use this information to influence how
you set goals and provide feedback , and how you motivate
and reward team members.
You can also use these motivators to craft, or design, the job around
your team members, ensuring a better fit.
Let's look at the steps for using McClelland's theory:

Step 1: Identify Drivers

Examine your team to determine which of the three motivators is

dominant for each person. You can probably identify drivers based on
personality and past actions.
For instance, perhaps one of your team members always takes charge of
the group when you assign a project. He speaks up in meetings to
persuade people, and he delegates responsibilities to others to meet the
goals of the group. He likes to be in control of the final deliverables.
This team member is likely primarily driven by the power.
You might have another team member who never speaks during
meetings. She always agrees with the group, works hard to manage
conflict when it occurs, and visibly becomes uncomfortable when you
talk about doing high-risk, high-reward projects. This person is likely to
have a strong need for affiliation.

Step 2: Structure Your Approach

Based on the driving motivators of your workers, structure

your leadership style and project assignments around each individual
team member. This will help ensure that they all stay engaged ,
motivated, and happy with the work they're doing.
Examples of Using the Theory

Let's take a closer look at how to manage team members who are driven
by each of McClelland's three motivators:

Achievement

People motivated by achievement need challenging, but not impossible,

projects. They thrive on overcoming difficult problems or situations, so
make sure you keep them engaged this way. People motivated by
achievement work very effectively either alone or with other high
achievers.
When providing feedback, give achievers a fair and balanced appraisal.
They want to know what they're doing right – and wrong – so that they
can improve.

Affiliation

People motivated by affiliation work best in a group environment, so try

to integrate them with a team (versus working alone) whenever possible.
They also don't like uncertainty and risk. Therefore, when assigning
projects or tasks, save the risky ones for other people.
When providing feedback to these people, be personal. It's still
important to give balanced feedback, but if you start your appraisal by
emphasizing their good working relationship and your trust in them,
they'll likely be more open to what you say. Remember that these people
often don't want to stand out, so it might be best to praise them in private
rather than in front of others.

Power
Those with a high need for power work best when they're in charge.
Because they enjoy competition, they do well with goal-oriented
projects or tasks. They may also be very effective in negotiations or in
situations in which another party must be convinced of an idea or goal.
When providing feedback, be direct with these team members. And keep
them motivated by helping them further their career goals

Vroom’s Expectancy Theory

In 1964, Canadian professor of psychology Victor Vroom developed the
Expectancy Theory. In it, he studied people’s motivation and concluded
it depends on three
factors: Expectancy, instrumentality and valence. Abraham
Maslow and Frederick Herzberg also researched the relation
between people’s needs and the efforts they make. Vroom distinguishes
between the effort people put in, their performance and the final result.
His theory primarily relates to motivation within a work environment.
When employees can make choices in their work, Victor Vroom argues
that they will mostly choose that what motivates them the most.

Motivational force formula

Victor Vroom uses a formula to calculate the motivational force:
Motivational force = Expectancy x Instrumentality x Valence

Expectancy
This is about what employees expect from their own efforts and the
relation to good performance. Part of this expectation is the level of
difficulty he experiences. An organisation can respond to that by finding
out which factors can motivate the employee to deliver his best possible
performance. Those factors can be facilities, training or support from a
supervisor who builds his employees’ confidence. Victor Vroom
indicates that, in general, more effort leads to better performance.
Employees can be stimulated to make an effort by offering them a juicy
carrot if they complete their task properly and quickly. Of course, it’s
also important that they have the right resources at their disposal, that
the employees have the necessary skills and that management provides
the right level of support.

Instrumentality
Each employee is a cog in the machine and an instrument that
contributes to the business results. From that perspective, instrumentality
isn’t difficult to grasp. It’s about the employee’s performance being
good enough to achieve the desired result. An organisation can stimulate
this by actually making good on promises of additional rewards such as
bonuses or promotion. The employee has to believe that if he performs
well, appreciation will be shown for the results. Transparency
throughout the reward process is an important condition for
instrumentality.

Valence
The final result that employees achieve is valued differently by each
individual. This value is based on their own basic needs. As such, it’s a
good idea for an organisation to find out what an individual employee
values and what his personal needs are. One might value money, while
another values more days off.

Individual factors
According to Victor Vroom, behaviour is the result of a conscious
choice from alternatives. Employees have a preference for getting the
most possible joy from their work with little effort. Individual factors
play a large role in the goals that have to be achieved and the behaviour
of employees. For instance, think of an employee’s personality, his
knowledge and skills, and the expectations he has of his own abilities.
Together, these form a motivating force that makes the employee act in a
certain way. The individual effort, performance and motivation are
always interconnected. To properly motivate employees, Vroom argues
that it’s essential that there is a positive correlation between effort and
performance.

Perception
Perception is an important factor in Vroom’s Expectancy Theory. An
organisation might perceive that it, as an employer, offers its employees
everything they need to sufficiently motivate them. For instance, a salary
that’s 10% above industry average, 10 extra days off, training
programmes, or career opportunities. But not all employees will be
sufficiently motivated by that; each individual has a different perception.
There might be employees who would appreciate more support from
their supervisor. If an organisation fails in that respect, chances are the
employees will be less motivated. Vroom’s Expectancy Theory of
motivation is not always about employee’s personal interest in rewards.
It’s also about the associations employees have regarding their
performance and the result it will yield.

Application
According to Vroom’s Expectancy Theory, you can expect employees
will increase their efforts at work when the reward has more personal
value to them. They’ll be more aware of the fact that there is a link
between their effort and the results. It means that both the organisation
and the employee have to be aware of the following three processes:

1. Increased efforts will improve work performance

2. Increased performance will lead to bigger rewards
3. The offered reward will be appreciated by the employee

If one of these conditions is not met, it’s hard to motivate the employee.
Particularly the last part can become an issue. An organisation therefore
has to find out – together with its employees – which rewards individual
employees value; which rewards motivate them. Organisations often
consider financial bonuses to be the best way to motivate employees,
even though the Expectancy Theory shows that this is by no means
always the most important factor to employees. That’s why there has to
be a proper balance between offering a financial bonus and setting a
clear performance standard, tailored to individual employees.

Strengths of the Theory

Employee expectations are boosted by rewards and incentives. With
proper goals set, this may trigger a motivational process that improves
performance. When management has a solid grasp of expectancy theory
principles, they can employ the concepts to assemble more effective
work teams to accomplish their business goals. They'll better understand
exactly what they need to offer to motivate their employees, look for any
gap in skills that needs training, and commit to delivering a reward.
One of the advantages of expectancy theory, if applied well, is that
employees willingly and happily participate in work projects because
management has planned participation based on the staff being
motivated by the chance to perform, and get rewards that they see as
meaningful.
Some Weaknesses
The theory won't work in practice without active participation from
managers; the theory assumes all components are already known. In
reality, leaders must make an effort to find out what their employees
value as rewards (valence).They must also accurately assess employees'
capabilities (expectancy) and make available all of the right resources to
help employees be successful in their jobs. Managers must also keep
their word; employees need to trust that if they put in the work and
effort, they will actually get the promised reward (instrumentality).
Another weakness of the expectancy theory is when management offers
certain motivations and rewards, but the employees don't value or
believe in them. This is the main leverage management has to guide their
team's behavior, so if they don't choose rewards with enough perceived
value, employees will lose motivation to perform. For example,
managers believe that an extra $5 of wages should motivate an
employee, but that employee might only find an increase rewarding and
immediately valuable if it were at least $10. Because of management's
lack of understanding, the employee isn't motivated.

Equity Theory of Motivation

The core of the equity theory is the principle of balance or equity. As per
this motivation theory, an individual’s motivation level is correlated to
his perception of equity, fairness and justice practiced by the
management. Higher is individual’s perception of fairness, greater is the
motivation level and vice versa. While evaluating fairness, employee
compares the job input (in terms of contribution) to outcome (in terms of
compensation) and also compares the same with that of another peer of
equal cadre/category. D/I ratio (output-input ratio) is used to make such
a comparison.

EQUITY THEORY

Ratio Perception
Comparison

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” according to Goodman. 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.

An employee might compare himself with his peer within the present job
in the current organization or with his friend/peer working in some other
organization or with the past jobs held by him with others. An
employee’s choice of the referent will be influenced by the appeal of the
referent and the employee’s knowledge about the referent.
Moderating Variables: The gender, salary, education and the
experience level are moderating variables. Individuals with greater and
higher education are more informed. Thus, they are likely to compare
themselves with the outsiders. Males and females prefer same sex
comparison. It has been observed that females are paid typically less
than males in comparable jobs and have less salary expectations than
male for the same work. Thus, a women employee that uses another
women employee as a referent tends to lead to a lower comparative
standard. Employees with greater experience know their organization
very well and compare themselves with their own colleagues, while
employees with less experience rely on their personal experiences and
knowledge for making comparisons.
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 Theory

 The 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.