MOTIVATION

Motivation is the word derived from the word ’motive’ which means needs, desires, wants or
drives within the individuals. It is the process of stimulating people to actions to accomplish
the goals. In the work goal context the psychological factors stimulating the people’s
behaviour can be -

 desire for money

 success

 recognition

 job-satisfaction

 team work, etc

One of the most important functions of management is to create willingness amongst the
employees to perform in the best of their abilities. Therefore the role of a leader is to arouse
interest in performance of employees in their jobs. The process of motivation consists of
three stages:-

1. A felt need or drive

2. A stimulus in which needs have to be aroused

3. When needs are satisfied, the satisfaction or accomplishment of goals.

Therefore, we can say that motivation is a psychological phenomenon which means needs
and wants of the individuals have to be tackled by framing an incentive plan.

Importance of Motivation

Motivation is a very important for an organization because of the following benefits it

provides:

1. 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.

2. Improves level of efficiency of employees

 This will result into-
 Increase in productivity,
 Reducing cost of operations, and
 Improving overall efficiency.
3. Leads to achievement of organizational goals
 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.
4. Builds friendly relationship
 Monetary and non-monetary incentives,
 Promotion opportunities for employees,
 Disincentives for inefficient employees.
In order to build a cordial, friendly atmosphere in a concern, the above steps should be taken
by a manager. This would help in:
i. Effective co-operation which brings stability,
ii. Industrial dispute and unrest in employees will reduce,

iii. The employees will be adaptable to the changes and there will be no resistance to the
change,

iv. This will help in providing a smooth and sound concern in which individual interests
will coincide with the organizational interests,

v. This will result in profit maximization through increased productivity.

5. 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.

CLASSICAL THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS THEORY

Abraham Maslow is well renowned for proposing the Hierarchy of Needs Theory in 1943.
This theory is a classical depiction of human motivation. This theory is based on the
assumption that there is a hierarchy of five needs within each individual. The urgency of
these needs varies. These five needs are as follows-

1. Physiological needs- These are the basic needs of air, water, food, clothing and
shelter. In other words, physiological needs are the needs for basic amenities of life.
2. Safety needs- Safety needs include physical, environmental and emotional safety and
protection. For instance- Job security, financial security, protection from animals,
family security, health security, etc.

3. Social needs- Social needs include the need for love, affection, care, belongingness,
and friendship.

4. Esteem needs- Esteem needs are of two types: internal esteem needs (self- respect,
confidence, competence, achievement and freedom) and external esteem needs
(recognition, power, status, attention and admiration).
 5. Self-actualization need- This include the urge to become what you are capable of
becoming / what you have the potential to become. It includes the need for growth
and self- contentment. It also includes desire for gaining more knowledge, social-
service, creativity and being aesthetic. The self- actualization needs are never fully
satiable. As an individual grows psychologically, opportunities keep cropping up to
continue growing.

According to Maslow, individuals are motivated by unsatisfied needs. As each of these needs
is significantly satisfied, it drives and forces the next need to emerge. Maslow grouped the
five needs into two categories - Higher-order needs and Lower-order needs. The
physiological and the safety needs constituted the lower-order needs. These lower-order
needs are mainly satisfied externally. The social, esteem, and self-actualization needs
constituted the higher-order needs. These higher-order needs are generally satisfied
internally, i.e., within an individual. Thus, we can conclude that during boom period, the
employees lower-order needs are significantly met.

HERZBERG’S TWO-FACTOR THEORY OF MOTIVATION

In 1959, Frederick Herzberg, a behavioural scientist proposed a two-factor theory or the

motivator-hygiene theory. According to Herzberg, there are some job factors that result in
satisfaction while there are other job factors that prevent dissatisfaction. According to
Herzberg, the opposite of “Satisfaction” is “No satisfaction” and the opposite of
“Dissatisfaction” is “No Dissatisfaction”.

Herzberg classified these job factors into two categories-

1. Hygiene factors- Hygiene factors are those job factors which are essential for existence of
motivation at workplace. These do not lead to positive satisfaction for long-term. But if these
factors are absent / if these factors are non-existant at workplace, then they lead to
dissatisfaction. In other words, hygiene factors are those factors which when
adequate/reasonable in a job, pacify the employees and do not make them dissatisfied. These
factors are extrinsic to work. Hygiene factors are also called as dissatisfiers or maintenance
factors as they are required to avoid dissatisfaction. These factors describe the job
environment/scenario. The hygiene factors symbolized the physiological needs which the
individuals wanted and expected to be fulfilled. Hygiene factors include:
  Pay - The pay or salary structure should be appropriate and reasonable. It must be
equal and competitive to those in the same industry in the same domain.
 Company Policies and administrative policies - The company policies should not be
too rigid. They should be fair and clear. It should include flexible working hours,
dress code, breaks, vacation, etc.

 Fringe benefits - The employees should be offered health care plans (mediclaim),
benefits for the family members, employee help programmes, etc.

 Physical Working conditions - The working conditions should be safe, clean and
hygienic. The work equipments should be updated and well-maintained.

 Status - The employees’ status within the organization should be familiar and
retained.

 Interpersonal relations - The relationship of the employees with his peers, superiors
and subordinates should be appropriate and acceptable. There should be no conflict or
humiliation element present.

 Job Security - The organization must provide job security to the employees.

2. Motivational factors- According to Herzberg, the hygiene factors cannot be regarded as

motivators. The motivational factors yield positive satisfaction. These factors are inherent to
work. These factors motivate the employees for a superior performance. These factors are
called satisfiers. These are factors involved in performing the job. Employees find these
factors intrinsically rewarding. The motivators symbolized the psychological needs that
were perceived as an additional benefit. Motivational factors include:

 Recognition - The employees should be praised and recognized for their

accomplishments by the managers.
 Sense of achievement - The employees must have a sense of achievement. This
depends on the job. There must be a fruit of some sort in the job.

 Growth and promotional opportunities - There must be growth and advancement

opportunities in an organization to motivate the employees to perform well.
  Responsibility - The employees must hold themselves responsible for the work. The
managers should give them ownership of the work. They should minimize control
but retain accountability.

 Meaningfulness of the work - The work itself should be meaningful, interesting and
challenging for the employee to perform and to get motivated.

Limitations of Two-Factor Theory

The two factor theory is not free from limitations:

1. The two-factor theory overlooks situational variables.

2. Herzberg assumed a correlation between satisfaction and productivity. But the
research conducted by Herzberg stressed upon satisfaction and ignored productivity.

3. The theory’s reliability is uncertain. Analysis has to be made by the raters. The raters
may spoil the findings by analyzing

4. same response in different manner.

5. No comprehensive measure of satisfaction was used. An employee may find his job
acceptable despite the fact that he may hate/object part of his job.

6. The two factor theory is not free from bias as it is based on the natural reaction of
employees when they are enquired the sources of satisfaction and dissatisfaction at
work. They will blame dissatisfaction on the external factors such as salary structure,
company policies and peer relationship. Also, the employees will give credit to
themselves for the satisfaction factor at work.

7. The theory ignores blue-collar workers. Despite these limitations, Herzberg’s Two-
Factor theory is acceptable broadly.

Implications of Two-Factor Theory

The Two-Factor theory implies that the managers must stress upon guaranteeing the
adequacy of the hygiene factors to avoid employee dissatisfaction. Also, the managers must
make sure that the work is stimulating and rewarding so that the employees are motivated to
work and perform harder and better. This theory emphasize upon job-enrichment so as to
motivate the employees. The job must utilize the employee’s skills and competencies to the
 maximum. Focusing on the motivational factors can improve work-quality.

MCCLELLAND’S THEORY OF NEEDS

David McClelland and his associates proposed McClelland’s theory of Needs / Achievement
Motivation Theory. This theory states that human behaviour is affected by three needs - Need
for Power, Achievement and Affiliation.

Need for achievement is the urge to excel, to accomplish in relation to a set of standards, to

struggle to achieve success.

Need for power is the desire to influence other individual’s behaviour as per your wish. In
other words, it is the desire to have control over others and to be influential.

Need for affiliation is a need for open and sociable interpersonal relationships. In other
words, it is a desire for relationship based on co-operation and mutual understanding.

The individuals with high achievement needs are highly motivated by competing and
challenging work. They look for promotional opportunities in job. They have a strong urge
for feedback on their achievement. Such individuals try to get satisfaction in performing
things better. High achievement is directly related to high performance. Individuals who are
better and above average performers are highly motivated. They assume responsibility for
solving the problems at work. McClelland called such individuals as gamblers as they set
challenging targets for themselves and they take deliberate risk to achieve those set targets.
Such individuals look for innovative ways of performing job. They perceive achievement of
goals as a reward, and value it more than a financial reward.

The individuals who are motivated by power have a strong urge to be influential and
controlling. They want that their views and ideas should dominate and thus, they want to
lead. Such individuals are motivated by the need for reputation and self-esteem. Individuals
with greater power and authority will perform better than those possessing less power.
Generally, managers with high need for power turn out to be more efficient and successful
managers. They are more determined and loyal to the organization they work for. Need for
power should not always be taken negatively. It can be viewed as the need to have a positive
effect on the organization and to support the organization in achieving it’s goals.
The individuals who are motivated by affiliation have an urge for a friendly and supportive
environment. Such individuals are effective performers in a team. These people want to be
liked by others. The manager’s ability to make decisions is hampered if they have a high
affiliation need as they prefer to be accepted and liked by others, and this weakens their
objectivity. Individuals having high affiliation needs prefer working in an environment
providing greater personal interaction. Such people have a need to be on the good books of
all. They generally cannot be good leaders.

CONTEMPORARY THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

VROOM’S THEORY OF EXPECTANCY 

Vroom’s expectancy theory of motivation says that an individual’s motivation is affected by

their expectations about the future. In his view, an individual’s motivation is affected by – 

 Expectancy: Here the belief is that increased effort will lead to increased

performance i.e., if I work harder then it will be better. This is affected by things such
as: 
o Having the appropriate resources available (e.g., raw materials, time) 

o Having the appropriate skills to do the job 

o Having the required support to get the job done (e.g., supervisor support, or
correct information on the job) 

 Instrumentality: Here the belief is that if you perform well, then the outcome will be
a valuable one for me. i.e., if I do a good job, there is something in it for me. This is
affected by things such as: 

o Clear understanding of the relationship between performance and outcomes –

e.g., the rules of the reward ‘game’ 

o Trust in the people who will take the decisions on who gets what outcome 

o Transparency in the process decides who gets what outcome 

  Valence: is how much importance the individual places upon the expected outcome.
For example, if someone is motivated by money, he or she might not value offers of
additional time off. 

Motivation = V * I * E 

The three elements are important when choosing one element over another, because they are
clearly defined: 

 E>P expectancy: our assessment of the probability that our efforts will lead to the
required performance level. 
 P>O expectancy: our assessment of the probability that our successful performance
will lead to certain outcomes. 

MC GREGOR’S THEORY X AND THEORY Y 

Theory X and Theory Y were first explained by McGregor in his book, "The Human Side of
Enterprise," and they refer to two styles of management – authoritarian (Theory X) and
participative (Theory Y). 

Theory X: Managers who accept this theory believe that if you feel that your team members
dislike their work, have little motivation, need to be watched every minute and are incapable
of being accountable for their work, avoid responsibility and avoid work whenever possible,
then you are likely to use an authoritarian style of management. According to McGregor, this
approach is very "hands-on" and usually involves micromanaging people's work to ensure
that it gets done properly.  

Theory Y: Managers who accept this theory believe that if people are willing to work
without supervision, take pride in their work, see it as a challenge and want to achieve more,
they can direct their own efforts, take ownership of their work and do it effectively by
themselves. These managers use a decentralized, participative management style.   

REINFORCEMENT THEORY OF MOTIVATION

Reinforcement theory of motivation was proposed by BF 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.

The managers use the following methods for controlling the behaviour of the employees:

Positive Reinforcement- This implies giving a positive response when an individual

shows positive and required behaviour. For example - Immediately praising an employee
for coming early for job. This will increase probability of outstanding behaviour occurring
again. Reward is a positive reinforce, but not necessarily. If and only if the employees’
behaviour improves, reward can said to be a positive reinforcer. Positive reinforcement
stimulates occurrence of a behaviour. It must be noted that more spontaneous is the giving
of reward, the greater reinforcement value it has.

Negative Reinforcement- This implies rewarding an employee by removing negative /

undesirable consequences. Both positive and negative reinforcement can be used for
increasing desirable / required behaviour.

Punishment- It implies removing positive consequences so as to lower the probability of

repeating undesirable behaviour in future. In other words, punishment means applying
undesirable consequence for showing undesirable behaviour. For instance - Suspending an
employee for breaking the organizational rules. Punishment can be equalized by positive
reinforcement from alternative source.

Extinction- It implies absence of reinforcements. In other words, extinction implies lowering

the probability of undesired behaviour by removing reward for that kind of behaviour. For
instance - if an employee no longer receives praise and admiration for his good work, he may
feel that his behaviour is generating no fruitful consequence. Extinction may unintentionally
lower desirable behaviour.

Implications of Reinforcement Theory

Reinforcement theory explains in detail how an individual learns behaviour. Managers who
are making attempt to motivate the employees must ensure that they do not reward all
employees simultaneously. They must tell the employees what they are not doing correct.
They must tell the employees how they can achieve positive reinforcement.

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 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”
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.