UNIT 13
Motivation
DEFINITION OF MOTIVATION
Motivation is the personal internal "force" that causes people to work to achieve organizational goals and by doing it to satisfy their personal needs.
When we say that a job motivates employees, we mean that it activates this force or the process within employees to behave in a particular way. When it seems that employees work only to achieve the general goals of an organization, they behave in this way only to achieve their own purposes to satisfy their needs.
The task of the manager is to create the possibilities for the employees to satisfy their needs to the full extent as a reward for their work and skills.
Practical management is based on certain scientific theories.
SCIENTIFIC THEORIES OF MOTIVATION
There are several scientific theories of motivation. Taken together, these models of motivation represent a good "guide book" for managers. We shall consider only some of them.
One of the first approaches to employees' motivation was Frederick Taylor's scientific theory. Taylor believed that employees work only for money and that they must be closely supervised and managed. He reasoned that the pay should be tied to output because workers "soldiered" or worked slowly. He said that the more a person produced, the more he or she should be paid. This gave rise to the piece-rate system under which employees are paid a certain amount for each unit of output they produce. This theory didn't take into account social processes in the workplace.
Douglas McGregor labeled this view Theory X and then described an alternative view called Theory Y which was based on the idea that employees can be motivated to behave as responsible members of an organization when it is clear to them that accomplishing the organizational goals will bring them personal rewards. This leads to the dedication and loyalty to the firm that are in evidence at the Japanese firms with the common desire to do the job well. Dedication and satisfaction of employees' needs can thus increase productivity. People will work towards goals to which they are committed.
McGregor maintained that his theory (Theory Y) was much more effective as a guide for managers. However, human motivation'is a complex and dynamic process to which there is no simple key. A variety of factors must be considered in any attempt to increase motivation.
HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
Abraham Maslow, an American psychologist, advanced a theory of a hierarchy of needs. Maslow assumed that people seek to satisfy a variety of needs. He assumed that they can be arranged according to their importance in a sequence known as Maslow's hierarchy of needs or Maslow's pyramid of needs:
At the most basic level are physiological needs, the things we require to survive. These needs include food and water, clothing, shelter, and sleep. In the employment context, these needs are usually satisfied through adequate wages.
|
|
|
At the next level are safety needs, the things we require for physical and emotional security. Safety needs may be satisfied through job security, health insurance, pension plans, and safe working conditions.
Next are the social needs, the human requirements for love and affection and a sense of belonging. To an extent, these needs can be satisfied through the work environment and the informal organization. But social relationships beyond the workplace - with family and friends, for example - are usually needed too.
At the level of esteem needs, we require respect and recognition (the esteem of others), as well as a sense of our own accomplishment and worth (self-esteem). These needs may be satisfied through personal accomplishment, promotion to more responsible jobs, various honors and awards, and other forms of recognition.
At the uppermost level are self-realization needs, the needs of people to increase all their human potentials and capabilities. These are the most difficult needs to satisfy, and the means of satisfying them vary with the individual. For some people, learning a new skill, starting a new career, or becoming "the best" at some endeavor may be the way to satisfy the self-realization needs.
Maslow suggested that people work to satisfy their physiological needs first, then their safety needs, and so on up the "needs ladder". In general, they are motivated by the needs at the lowest (most important) level that remain unsatisfied. However, needs at one level do not have to be completely satisfied before needs at the next-higher level come into play. If the majority of a person's physiological and safety needs are satisfied, that person will be motivated primarily by social needs. As needs at one level are satisfied, people try to satisfy needs at the next level.
Exercises
