Types of Motivation

Motivation can be classified in many ways. However, some of the

main typologies of motivation can be stated as under.

1. Positive motivation and Negative motivation

2. Extrinsic motivation and Intrinsic motivation
1. Positive motivation and Negative motivation :
Positive motivation concerns with influencing the workers in positive
way. It is also known as 'carrot approach'. Under this, manager
provides various financial and non financial incentives in order to
effectively direct the subordinates towards the accomplishment of
organizational goals. Increment in salary and wages, promotion, rewards,
bonus, gratuity, personal and group insurance, medical facilities, vehicle
and accommodation facilities are the examples of financial incentives. Non
financial incentives include praise or appreciation of work done, workers'
participation in management, opportunity for growth, justice,
recognition, delegation of authority, job stability etc.

Negative motivation concerns with influencing the behavior of

workers through negative approach. It is also known as 'stick
approach'. Negative motivation may involve both monetary and non-
monetary punishments such as fine, penalties, reduction of remuneration,
devotion, group rejection, disciplinary action etc. It is, generally,
not advisable in organizations as it may lead to high employee
turnover and poor industrial relations. However, negative motivational
approach cannot always be avoided.

2. Extrinsic motivation and Intrinsic motivation

Motivation caused due to extrinsic reward is known as extrinsic
motivation. An extrinsic reward is anything received from another
person. Extrinsic rewards include pay rises, bonuses, praise or some
other form of recognition. On the other hand, intrinsic motivation is a
motivation caused due to self-generated or intrinsic rewards. Intrinsic
rewards include the enjoyment of learning a new task, a feeling of
accomplishment from performing a job well, a sense of personal
usefulness, a sense of pride for being a part of a team or an
organization etc.

Importance of Motivation

Motivation is such an intangible factor which stimulates people to perform

their jobs best of their capabilities. The importance of motivation can further
be highlighted from the following points.

1. High morale and job satisfaction of employees

 2. Stability of workforce or low employee turnover
3. Best remedy for resistance to change
4. Goodwill of organization
5. Minimizes supervision cost
6. Minimizes disputes, strikes and other disciplinary problems
7. Optimum utilization of human potential
8. Promotes quality of work
9. Enhance productivity and profitability

Thus motivation is important for both the individuals and the organization. In
fact, talented and motivated people are only the true competitive advantage
for modern organizations.

Tools/ Techniques of Motivation

There are a number of financial and non-financial tool or techniques of

motivating people at work. However, the important techniques can be given
as:

1. Motivation through rewards

2. Motivation through QWL
3. Motivation through appropriate job design

1. Motivation through rewards : Reward can broadly be defined as the

material and/or psychological payoffs for performing tasks in the workplace. It
may be financial or non-financial. From another perspective, it can be extrinsic
or intrinsic. The rewards or payoffs granted to the individuals by their
organization are extrinsic rewards where as the rewards which are self-
generated or experienced or felt internally are the intrinsic rewards.
Money, fringe benefits, promotion, status, praise etc. are the examples of
extrinsic rewards, and a sense of accomplishment, self-esteem, self-
actualization etc are the examples of intrinsic rewards. Note that, whether
the reward is intrinsic or extrinsic it leads to high motivation and
the motivation leads to better performance of jobs. Though there are a
variety of rewards to motivate people at the workplace, some of
the most commonly employed organizational rewards can be
explained under the following heads.

i. Pay rises
ii. Promotions
iii. Profit sharing plan (e.g. bonus)
iv. Benefits (e. g. pension, insurance coverage, medical.)
v. Special awards and certificates. (e.g. long service
award, outstanding performance award etc.)
2. Motivation through QWL : Quality of work life (QWL) is an integrated
approach to employee needs, well being, participation and better
performance of jobs. It is a mechanism by which employees get
opportunity to actively participate in decision making, contribute to
organizational goals, and obtain recognition and rewards. QWL
programs/mechanisms create a workplace that enhances quality of
employees work life. QWL mechanisms generally have the following essential
elements.

1. Adequate and fair compensation

2. Safe and healthy working environment
3. Opportunity for personal growth and security
4. Social relevance of work
5. A work that provides personal freedom, identity, rights and dignity etc.

Following are the important mechanisms of QWL.

i. Quality circle (QC)

Quality Circles are small groups of employees or workers (7 to 12)

who meet regularly (weekly in most cases) to solve their work-
related problems (e.g. quality, quantity, cost).QCs give the
employee opportunity for involvement, social need satisfaction,
participation in work improvement and opportunity for growth. QC
members assume responsibility to identify and analyze problems on
their work areas. Therefore, circle activities are often carried out on
breaks and lunch times too. Members continue to think about the points
raised in the meetings.

QCs are instrumental mainly to those organizations who are more concerned
with quality. For example, the American Aerospace industry has used QCs
successfully. This industry is more concerned with quality because one
small error can have a devastating effect on human lives. Likewise,
Toyo Kogyo, maker of Mazda, alone has 1,800 QCs.

An important advantage of QC is the sense of autonomy experienced by its

members. This gives them a sense of pride and satisfaction when
some of these solutions are implemented and publicized. It fulfills the
higher order needs, e.g., social and esteem needs, and provides a quality of
work life. And the management also gets valuable suggestions for the
improvements in process and products. However, management
has to provide commitment and active support for its effectiveness.

ii. Employees share on ownership

The participation of employees in decision making can be increased by making

them a part of organizations management. Many organizations today have
planned to distribute their shares among employees. Firstly, the ownership
feeling motivates them to work harder and smarter. Secondly, they can
participate in crucial decision making of organization through shareholders
AGM.

iii. Flexible work schedules

The fix work schedule (for example, 9:00 am to 5:00pm) makes it difficult for
employees to do their personal work like going to bank, visiting childrens
school, paying the utility bills and so on. The emerging concept is that
employees should be given freedom to choose their own work time. It
increases job satisfaction, motivation and their commitment to the
organization. So, under this mechanism, an employee can come
early and leave early, come late and leave late, and can come early, take a
break in between working hours, and leave late.

iv. Self-managed work teams

This concept is guided by the idea that self-management is the best

management. Self- management promotes creativity, motivation and
productivity. Self-managed work teams are work groups in which
members perform many of the functions usually reserved to
management, such as planning, scheduling, budgeting, directing,
and evaluating. such teams have clearly defined inputs and outputs. Each
employee is trained to do many of the groups tasks in order to provide
flexibility and increase productivity. Self-managed work teams measure their
own performance by such standards as service quality, meeting scheduled
deliveries, productivity, and cost control. Thus, each member has the
increasing level responsibility at each stage. These days such teams
are considered to be the best mechanism for empowering
employees and to encourage their participation in work-related activities.

3. Motivation through appropriate job design

Different techniques of job design also cause intrinsic motivation to

employees. Sometimes, it is more powerful than the extrinsic motivation
techniques. Some of the main techniques of motivating people through
appropriate job design include:

i. Job enlargement

Jon enlargement means increasing the scope of a job through extending the
range of its job duties and responsibilities. This contradicts the principles of
specialization and the division of labor whereby work is divided into small
units, each of which is performed repetitively by an individual worker. Some
motivational theories suggest that the boredom and alienation caused by the
division of labor can actually cause efficiency to fall. Thus, job enlargement
seeks to motivate workers through reversing the process of
specialization. A typical approach might be to replace assembly lines with
modular work; instead of an employee repeating the same step on each
product, they perform several tasks on a single item.
ii. Job enrichment

Job enrichment is an attempt to motivate employees by giving them the

opportunity to use the range of their abilities. It is an idea that was developed
by the American psychologist Frederick Herzberg in the 1950s. It can
be contrasted to job enlargement which simply increases the number
of tasks without changing the challenge. As such job enrichment has been
described as 'vertical loading' of a job, while job enlargement is 'horizontal
loading'. An enriched job should ideally contain:

A range of tasks and challenges of varying difficulties (Physical or Mental)

A complete unit of work - a meaningful task

Feedback, encouragement and communication

iii. Job rotation

Job rotation is another tool of motivating people at work. It can also be

regarded as an approach to management development where an individual is
moved through a schedule of assignments designed to give him or her a
breadth of exposure to the entire operation. Job rotation is also practiced
to allow qualified employees to gain more insights into the
processes of a company, and to reduce boredom and increase job satisfaction
through job variation.