Motivation

Motivation is an internal state that induces a person to engage in particular behavior. It has directions, intensity, and persistence of behavior over time.

Model of Motivation

Environment

Opportunity

Needs & Drives

Tension

Effort

Performance

Rewards

Goals & incentives

Ability

Need satisfaction

Intensity refers to the amount of effort a person expends at doing a task. It is concerned with how hard a person tries. It leads to favorable job performance, which is channelled to a direction that benefits the organization. Direction refers to the choice of specific behavior from a large number of possible behaviors. Persistence refers to the continuing engagement in a behavior over a time.
Motivation is concerned with the desire to acquire or achieve some goal. It derives from a persons wants, needs, or desires.

P=AxM
Potential performance (P) is a product of ability (A) and motivation (M) Types of needs: Primary needs: the physical needs include food, water, sleep, air, and temperature. Secondary needs: they represent needs of the mind and spirit e.g. self-esteem, sense of duty, competitiveness, and self-assertion. Any actions that management takes will affect employees secondary needs.

McClelland focused on four secondary needs. Achievement motivation: A drive to accomplish objectives and get ahead. Affiliation motivation: A drive to relate to people effectively. Competence motivation: A drive to do high- quality work and develop ones skill. Power motivation: A drive to influence people and situations.

Theories of motivation
Self-actualization
Maslows Hierarchy of Needs:

Esteem Social

Safety
Physiological

Physiological: includes hunger, thirst, sleep and other bodily needs. Safety: includes security and protection from physical and emotional harm. Social: includes affections, belongingness, acceptance and friendship Esteem: includes internal esteem factors, such as self-respect, autonomy, and achievement and external esteem factors such as status, recognition, and attention. Self-actualization: The drive to become that one is capable to becoming; includes growth, achieving ones potential and self-fulfilment.

According to Maslow one should understand what level of hierarchy that person is currently on and focus on satisfying those needs at or above that level. The first two are lower order needs. Pay, tenure, union contracts are lower order needs. The rest are higher order needs that are satisfied internally.

Two Factor Theory

This theory is also known as motivation-hygiene theory. Psychologist Frederick Herzberg proposed this theory in 1950. The theory states that motivation comes from the nature of the job itself, not only from external rewards of job conditions. Human needs are divided into two categories: Hygiene factor: those deriving from the animal nature of human being, such as the physiological needs. The factors are pay, supervision, co-corkers, administration and organizational policies. When these factors are adequate, people will not be dissatisfied, but not satisfied. Motivating factors: those related to higher-level uniquely human ability for psychological growth. They include achievement, recognition, responsibility and nature of the work itself.

Two dimensions of employee satisfaction

Hygiene issues (dissatisfiers) Company and administrative policies Supervision Salary Interpersonal relations Working conditions Motivators (satisfiers) Work itself Achievement Recognition Responsibility Advancement

The way to motivate is to provide appropriate levels of motivating factors

Hygiene factors no matter how favorable cannot lead to motivation

Job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction are separate and unrelated constructs rather than opposite ends of the same continuum Motivating factors can lead to satisfaction but their absence can lead only to lack of satisfaction and not dissatisfaction Hygiene factors can lead to dissatisfaction but at best they can produce only lack of dissatisfaction rather than satisfaction.

Goal-Setting Theory
The basic idea of this theory is that peoples behavior is motivated by their internal intentions, objectives or goals. There are four ways in which goals affect behavior. First, goals direct attention and action to behaviors that person believes will achieve the goal e.g. the goal of an A on exam would be expected to engage in studying behavior. Second, goal mobilize effort in that the person tries harder e.g. the student with the goal of an A will concentrate harder to learn the material. Third, goals increase persistence (determination), resulting in more time spends on the behaviors necessary for goal attainments e.g. the student who wants an A will spend more time studying.

Fourth, goals can motivate the search for effective strategies to attain them e.g. the careful student will attempt to learn effective ways of studying and good test taking strategies.

Important factors for goal setting to improve job performance Goal acceptance by the employee. Feedback on the progress of the goal. Difficult and challenging goals. Specific goals are more effective than the vague goals.

Expectancy Theory

It attempts to explain how rewards lead to behavior by focusing on internal cognitive states that lead to motivation. The basic idea of the theory is that people will be motivated when they believe that their behavior will lead to rewards or outcomes that they want. Psychologist Victor Vroom proposed this theory in 1964.

Force = Expectancy x (Valances x Instrumentalities)

Force represents the amount of motivation a person has to engage in a particular behavior or sequence of behaviors that are relevant to job performance. Expectancy is the subjective probability that the person has about his or her ability to perform a behavior. Valance is the value of an outcome or reward to a person.

Instrumentality is the subjective probability that a given behavior will result in a particular reward.