Motivation and Motivation theories

1. Motivation and
Motivation theories

2. Definition
• Motivation (root motive) as “something
(as a need or desire) that causes a
person to act” while motivate is defined
as “the object influencing a choice or
prompting an action.”

3. Definition
• Several common themes among motivation
definitions refers to action or behavior toward
goals, specifically, the individual and
environmental antecedent factors that cause
action, the goal itself, and feedback acting as
a moderator which can influence the intensity
of achieving the goal

4. Definition
• An understanding of the complexities of
contemporary organizations and how
individual’s differing motivations influence
needs, actions and goals is essential to
fully comprehend the effects of variations
in other factors such as leadership styles,
job design, salary, as they relate to
performance, satisfaction, and other
outcomes

5. Motivation
Popular definition of “motivation”
• Willingness to perform
• Regarded as an individual-level attitude
• Understood to be affected by “leadership”
May be nothing more than an internal attribution when
observed behavior is consistent or inconsistent with
organizational expectations

6. Motivation
• Motivation:
Psychological processes that cause the arousal
direction, and persistence of voluntary actions that
are goal directed.

7. Motivation
Implications Associated with This
Definition
 Behavior is purposive rather than random
- People exhibit both positive (work done on time) and
negative (arrive late for work) behavior for a reason
Motivation arouses people to do something
- People are unlikely to change a behavior or do
something different unless they are motivated to do so

8. Motivation
Motivation causes people to focus on a desired
end-result or goal
Motivation fuels the persistence needed to
exhibit sustained effort on a task

9. Motivation Theories
• Content theories – focus on factors within the
person that energize, direct, sustain, and stop
behavior.
• They attempt to determine the specific needs that
motivate people (individual needs for job satisfaction,
behavior, and reward systems). Aware of differences
in people

10. Motivation Theories
• Process theories – describe and analyze how
behavior is energized, directed, sustained and
stopped by factors external to the person.
• Understand how individuals make choices based on
preferences, rewards, and accomplishments

11. Content Theories
• Within a person, individual need deficiencies activate
tensions that trigger a behavioral response. Managers
should:
• Determine what needs trigger performance, group and
personal behaviors
• Offer meaningful rewards to satisfy needs
• Know when it is appropriate to offer rewards
• Adapt to people’s changing needs

12. Maslow’s Need Hierarchy

13. Alderfer ERG Theory
• Existence – needs satisfied by factors such as food,
air, water, pay, and working conditions
• Relatedness- needs satisfied by meaningful social and
interpersonal relationships

14. Alderfer ERG Theory
• Growth – needs satisfied by creative contributions
• In addition to satisfaction-progression hierarchy,
there is frustration-regression.

15. Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory
• Views on job satisfaction
• Extrinsic conditions or job context include pay,
status, working conditions.
• The presence of these conditions does not motivate
the person but the absence results in dissatisfaction.
• Also called hygiene factors

16. Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory
• Intrinsic conditions or job content include feelings
of achievement, increased responsibility and
recognition.
• The absence does not lead to dissatisfaction but
when present they build levels of motivation that
result in good job performance.
• Also called motivators.

17. Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory
• Requires an enriched job to motivate employees
Hygiene Factor - work condition related to
dissatisfaction caused by discomfort or pain
• maintenance factor
• contributes to employee’s feeling not dissatisfied
• contributes to absence of complaints

18. Herzberg’s Motivator-Hygiene Model

19. Herzberg’s Motivator-Hygiene Model
(contd)
Motivation Factor - work condition related to the
satisfaction of the need for psychological growth
• job enrichment
• leads to superior performance & effort

20. Herzberg’s Motivator-Hygiene Model
(contd)

21. McClelland’s Need Theory
• Need For Achievement: Desire to excel and
accomplish something difficult.
Achievement-motivated people prefer
 Tasks of moderate ability that they can achieve

22. McClelland’s Need Theory
Situations in which their performance is due to their
own efforts
More feedback on their success and failures than do
low achievers

23. McClelland’s Need Theory
Need For Affiliation: Desire to spend time in social
relationships and activities.
Need For Power: Desire to influence, coach, teach, or
encourage others to achieve.

24. Causes of Job Satisfaction
• Job Satisfaction: An affective or emotional response
to various facets of one’s job.
• Need Fulfillment: Satisfaction is based on the extent to
which a job satisfies a person’s needs.

25. Causes of Job Satisfaction
• Discrepancies: Satisfaction is determined by the extent
to which an individual receives what he or she
expects from a job.
• Value Attainment: Satisfaction results from the extent
to which a job allows fulfillment of one’s work
values.

26. Causes of Job Satisfaction
• Equity: Satisfaction is a function of how “fairly” an
individual is treated at work.
• Trait/Genetic Components: Satisfaction is partly a
function of personal traits and genetic factors.

27. GOAL-SETTING THEORY
• Goals tell an employee what needs to be done and
how much effort will need to be expended.
• In order to increase performance:
• Set specific goals.
• Difficult goals, when accepted, result in higher
performance than does easy goals.
• Provide feedback.

28. GOAL-SETTING THEORY
• An individual is committed to the goal when he
believes he can achieve the goal, and wants to achieve
it.

29. EQUITY THEORY
• Employees make comparison of their job inputs and
outcomes relative to those of others:
Inequity due to being under rewarded
Equity
Inequity due to being over rewarded

30. EQUITY THEORY
• When employees perceive inequity, they can:
 Change their inputs.
 Change their outcomes.
 Distort perceptions of self.
 Distort perception of others
 Choose a different referent
 Leave the field

31. EQUITY THEORY
• Given payment by time:
• Over rewarded employees will produce more than will
equitably paid employees.
• Under rewarded employees will produce less or poorer
quality of output.

32. EQUITY THEORY
• Given payment by quantity of production:
• Over rewarded employees will produce fewer, but higher-
quality, units than will equitably paid employees.
• Under rewarded employees will produce a large number of
low-quality units in comparison with equitably paid
employees.

33. EQUITY THEORY
• Motivation is influenced significantly by others’
rewards as well as by one’s own rewards.
• Inequities created by overpayment do not seem to
have a very significant impact on behaviour.

34. EQUITY THEORY
• Most research has focused on pay, but employees
seem to look for equity in the distribution of other
rewards.
• Historically, equity theory focused on distributive
justice.

35. EQUITY THEORY
• But increasingly equity is thought of from the
standpoint of organizational justice.
• Managers should consider openly sharing
information on how allocation decisions are made,
following consistent and unbiased procedures.

36. EXPECTANCY THEORY
• The strength of a tendency to act in a certain way
depends on the strength of an expectation that the
act will be followed by a given outcome and on the
attractiveness of that the outcome to the individual.

37. EXPECTANCY THEORY
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E f f o r t
P e r s o n a l
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38. EXPECTANCY THEORY
• The theory focuses on three relationships:
 Effort-performance.
 Performance-reward.
 Rewards-personal goals.

39. EXPECTANCY THEORY
• Giving maximum effort not always means being
recognized.
• Good performance appraisal not always leads to
organizational rewards.

40. EXPECTANCY THEORY
• Rewards are not always found attractive by
employees:
• Managers limited in the rewards they can distribute.
• Managers incorrectly assume that all employees want the
same.

41. EXPECTANCY THEORY:
• The key is the understanding of an individual’s goal
and the linkage between the three relationships.