Compare and contrast TWO theories of motivation.

Suggest how managers might use these theories to motivate their staff

The term motivation can be best described as the compelling force behind an individual which affects the intensity, direction, and persistence of effort toward attaining a goal (Robbins, 2001 ! "n other words, motivation is the reason for the amount of effort and steadiness people put into achieving their aims! Related to businesses and organi#ations, motivation is defined as the creation of stimuli, incentives, and wor$ing environments which enable people to perform to the best of their ability in pursuit of (!!! success! (%erseus %ublishing, 200& ! 'anagers or leaders are geared towards increasing motivation within their team in order to produce success and achieve company ob(ectives to a larger e)tent! "n the interest of determining how to attain enhanced motivation, scientists delved into ascertaining the reasons that initiate peoples* behaviour and give direction to it! +ence, a lot of different $inds of motivation theories have been developed! ,Thesemotivational theories can be divided into two categories, termed content and process (.incham, R! and Rhodes, %!, 200/ ! 0ontent theories primarily e)amine the specific factors that motivate people and imply that these factors are the same for each person! "n contrast, process theories state that every individual aspires to that particular option which involves the highest profit for its distinct situation1 therefore this theory claims that everybody is driven by different factors depending on personal circumstances (.incham, R! and Rhodes, %!, 200/ ! This essay will compare and contrast one motivational theory from both categories and ma$e suggestions how managers may use the presented theories in order to motivate their employees!

The most recent content theory has been formulated by psychologist 0layton 2lderfer and approaches the relation between people*s needs and conse3uential human behaviour (2lderfer 0!%!, 1452 ! +is so6called ERG-theory rec$ons needs as the driving force behind all human activity and groups them into three categories7 8)istence, relatedness and growth needs (hence 8R9 theory ! 8)istence needs comprise physiological and financial aspects such as a need for food, shelter, medical care and safe wor$ing conditions! They account for the physiological well6 being of an individual! Relatedness needs focus on the importance of personal relationships with other people, either at wor$ or with family and friends! They also imply the value of being understood, accepted and appreciated by other people! 9rowth needs refer to human aspiration towards self6actualisation and personal development1 therefore they stress the significance for every person to have a feeling of individual improvement! 2lderfer argues that these three groups of core needs serve as motivational factors for individuals! (:uthans, .!, 14;/ 2lderfer*s 8R9 theory is an advancement of an earlier motivation theory formulated by 2braham 'aslow, one of the founders of humanistic psychology! 'aslow suggested that people*s motivational needs can be organised in a hierarchical way! +e identified five levels of core needs in his hierarchy of needs (.incham, R! and Rhodes, %!, 200/ ! .irstly, 'aslow states that every person has a basic set of needs, called physiological needs! <nce these are satisfied, individuals get to the ne)t level, which consists of security needs! The third level of 'aslow*s hierarchy contains social needs, followed by esteem needs! The last level is called self-actualisation and signifies the motivational drive behind an individual to transform self6perception into reality and e)ploit their full potential! (2dair, =!, 200>

2s 2lderfer used 'aslow*s hierarchy of needs as a starting point for his 8R9 theory, it has much in common with it but also differs in some significant aspects! 2lderfer states that there is more a continuum of needs than an arrangement in hierarchical order! 0ontrary to 'aslow, 2lderfer does not insist on the necessity of fulfilment of a lower6level need before the ne)t stage is activated, but rather allows different levels of needs to be accessed simultaneously or in a different order depending on the person*s bac$ground or environment! Therefore, the different categories of needs don*t have to be satisfied in a hierarchical order and a lower6level need does not compulsively have to be satisfied before a higher6level need starts to motivate a person! .urthermore, 2lderfer assumes that it is possible to move along ,the different levels- in either direction (.incham, R! and Rhodes, %! instead of only moving up the hierarchy li$e 'aslow proposed! This means, if a higher level need remains unsatisfied, the person may regress to a lower level need which is easier to fulfil! This process is called frustration regression! 2nother aspect where the

theories differ is the importance of the needs that have been satisfied! 'aslow suggested that once a need has been fulfilled, its motivational power decreases! 2lderfer on the other hand stresses the increase in importance of satisfied needs which still proceed motivating people (?anous, =!%! and @wany, 2!, 1455 ! 2ll things considered, 2lderfer*s theory is less restrictive than 'aslow*s because it doesn*t rec$on the hierarchical order as rigid! Therefore the 8R9 theory accounts for a wider range of individuals and behaviours! "n terms of process theories, the one that is considered as most fully enunciated is the so6called Equity theory that has been formulated in 14>/ by =ohn Atacey 2dams, a behavioural psychologist ('iner, =!B!, 2005 ! 2dams put forward the idea that people are see$ing for a fair balance between the investments they put into a relationship, the so6called inputs, and the rewards they get in return, also referred to

as outcomes! "nputs may be our s$ill, time, educational bac$ground, commitment or effort1 while outcomes include financial awards such as salary and bonuses as well as intangibles li$e reputation, promotion or praise (Beugre, 0!C!, 144; But 2dams* theory is a far more comple) motivational model than simply weighting efforts and rewards! 2dams suggests that people decide whether the balance between their inputs and outcomes is fair or not by comparing their own ratio to the ratio of so6 called social referents! 83uity theorists assume that these social comparison processes are driven by our fundamental concern with fairness or e3uity (.incham, R! and Rhodes, %!, 200/ ! These social referents can be either the individual itself at a different point of time, other people or the system in general! The theory says that people become de6motivated if they e)perience ine3uity, either by feeling poorly rewarded or too well rewarded compared to others! ?hen people sense ine3uity, this causes discontent which is e)pressed either as anger or guilt depending whether under6 or over6reward prevails! They will then ta$e steps to even out the ratio1 these steps are used as e)planation for human motivation! <ne possibility is to alter inputs or outcomes, which in the employment conte)t means for e)ample lowering the effort or time put into the (ob, or ma$ing claims or demands for pay rises! 2 person might also try to change perceptions of itself and its social reference which is referred to as cognitive distortion ,of inputs and outcomes- to achieve the same results ('iner, =!B!, 200/ or change its referent completely! The most e)treme way to deal with ine3uity is leaving the field (2dams, =!A!, Ber$owit#, :! and +atfield, 8!, 145> by 3uitting the (ob and see$ing an alternative one (:uthans, .!, 14;/ ! The important aspect to notice about 2dams* theory is that it is not the amount of reward or effort itself that matters but the ratio of input6to6output between the person and its social reference! "f employees feel that this ratio is proportionally fair, they are more content at wor$ and therefore more motivated to $eep up their level of input!

2lderfer and 2dams are both behavioural psychologists who delved into the sub(ect of human motivation1 however, the approach to the topic each of them too$ differs! .irst of all, 2lderfer*s 8R9 theory counts among the content theories (.incham, R! and Rhodes, %!, 200/ which assume that every individual possesses the same set of needs by which it is motivated, whereas 2dams* 83uity theory is a process theory ('iner, =!B!, 2005 and therefore states that every person has individual needs depending on its personal situation! 2lderfer assumes that the three core needs that motivate people are e)istence, relatedness and growth needs which are applicable to every person! 2dams, on the other hand, suggests that people*s needs are influenced by the feeling of ine3uity due to comparison with other individuals and differ slightly from person to person! .urthermore, the 8R9 theory says that the motivation to fulfil needs arises from the inside of human beings and comes up automatically, while according to the 83uity theory, motivation occurs either through the feeling of being treated unfairly or through the strive to maintain e3uity! 2nother difference between the two theories is the way people deal with an unsatisfied need7 2lderfer suggests that in this case, frustration regression occurs which leads people to focus on fulfilling another need! .rom 2dams* point of view, there are different approaches to the problem for each individual if the fulfilment of a need seems difficult, in other words if the ratio between inputs and outcomes is not e3ual! Both the 8R9 theory and the 83uity theory are a very good starting point for managers in order to achieve higher levels of motivation within their team! 2ccording to the 8R9 theory, individuals are motivated by the desire to fulfil certain needs, termed e)istence, relatedness and growth! .irst of all, managers have to find out which of their staff*s needs are not satisfied! This can be done by holding group meetings, doing 3uestionnaires or in one6to6one conversations! Then it is up to the

manager to create opportunities for employees so they can attempt to satisfy their needs! There are different ways how these opportunities can be created which vary for each level of needs! 8)istence needs are basic needs and contain pay and wor$ing conditions! "f it turns out that employees are dissatisfied with the fulfilment of these particular needs, managers could initiate pay rises or increased benefits! .urthermore, it is important to create the right wor$ing climate and environment! Regarding the fact that (ob security is one of the top three motivators for employees, another possibility to fulfil e)istence needs is to tal$ about (ob security with staff members as people tend to be more committed to their wor$ if they feel secure and cared for! Relatedness needs in a wor$ing environment concern relationships with co6wor$ers and colleagues! "f these don*t seem to be satisfied, managers could ma$e use of different activities in order to improve the atmosphere within the team, li$e for e)ample team building activities, wor$ing in teams or social events outside of wor$! 9rowth needs comprehend the personal development and self6esteem of an individual! "f managers realise that these needs are not fulfilled within the team, they could implement management trainings or learning opportunities for employees to support their personal development! .urthermore, growth needs could be satisfied by allocating additional responsibility and decision6ma$ing6power to employees which is $nown as (ob enrichment and causes higher (ob satisfaction and less boredom! 2nother motivating factor could be (ob enlargement which implies an increase in the number of different tas$s performed by a person and therefore allows him or her to develop personality!

"n general, according to the 8R9 theory, staff motivation is increased by satisfying as many of the three core needs as possible, so managers should aim to fulfil all of them! Dnder the terms of the 83uity theory, employees are said to lose motivation if they feel poorly or overly rewarded in comparison to colleagues! .or managers to use this theory in order to improve staff motivation, they have to $eep an eye on tangible and intangible outcomes from the company and ensure that these match the employees* inputs! .urthermore, they have to ensure that nobody gets a feeling of being treated unfairly or having a different input6outcome6ratio compared to others, which would lead to de6motivation! "f this is the case, managers should try to increase the outcomes for that particular employee! This does not necessarily have to be done by e)trinsic rewards li$e money as 83uity theory suggests to avoid both under6 and overpay! <ther possibilities to improve outcomes could be giving more responsibility to staff members or simply recognising the wor$ they are doing! Recognition is rec$oned as one of the most powerful motivating forces1 therefore it is important to ac$nowledge the employees* achievements and performance and give them a feeling of being valued at wor$! "n addition to that, another method that could lead to a fair input6outcome6ratio is setting demanding but achievable goals and letting employees participate in the goal6setting6process to ensure that the set aims are within the limits of their capability! This will give the employee a feeling of responsibility for reaching their goals and motivate them to do so! <verall, managers should constantly ensure that every staff member feels treated e3ually and that good performance is noticed and rewarded in order to increase motivation!

"n summary, it can be stated that the topic of motivation has been widely researched for many years! .ew concepts in applied psychology have attracted as high a level of interest as motivation (.incham, R! and Rhodes, %!, 200/ ! "n general these concepts can be divided into two categories, termed content and process theories! 2lderfer*s 8R9 theory comes under former ones and approaches three core needs that individuals strive to fulfil1 whereas 2dams* 83uity theory counts as a process concept and loo$s at how perceived ine3uity between investments and rewards when compared with other people can lead to de6motivation! 'anagers must have an understanding the motivational factors that influence employees in order to influence wor$ performance and increase motivation! 2lthough there is no simple answer to the 3uestion of how to motivate people as motivation has to be ad(usted to each individual, motivational theories are supportive means for a better understanding of human behaviour! (225; wErter

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