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Motivation Theories [Top 8 Motivational Theories]
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Motivation Theories [Top 8 Motivational Theories]
Table of Contents
Some of the essential Theories of Motivation are as follows:
- Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory
- Herzberg’s Motivation Hygiene Theory
- McClelland’s Need Theory
- McGregor’s Participation Theory
- Urwick’s Theory Z
- Argyris’s Theory
- Vroom’s Expectancy Theory
- Porter and Lawler’s Expectancy Theory
From the very beginning, when human organizations are establishing, various thinkers have to try to find out the answer to what motivates many people to work. The Different approaches that they apply have resulted in several theories that are a concern.
1. Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory – Motivation Theories
Human needs motivation ideas, drawing mainly on clinical experience, classified all human needs into a hierarchical manner from the lower to the higher order.
In the extract, he believed that once a given level of need is satisfied. It is no longer serves to motivate a man. Then, the next higher level of demand has to be activated to encourage the man. Maslow has identified the five groups in his need hierarchy, as shown in figure.
a) The Physiological Needs
These needs are fundamental to human life. Hence, our Food, Clothing, Shelter, Air, Water, and Necessities of life needs relating to human life’s survival and maintenance. They apply more effects on human nature. Requirements are to meet first, at least partly, before higher-level needs become apparent. Once the physiological conditions are satisfied, then they are no longer motivate the man.
b) Safety Needs
After satisfying the physiological needs, the following requirements felt is called safety and security needs. These needs find the expression in such desires as economic security and protection from physical dangers. Meeting these needs requires more money. Hence, the individual is encouraged to work more. Like in the physiological conditions become inactive once they are satisfied.
c) The Social Needs
Therefore, man is a social person, interested in Social interaction, Companionship, Belongingness, Socializing, and Belongingness of an individual. Many individuals prefer to work in groups. Especially older people go to work.
d) Esteem Needs
These needs refer to self-esteem and self-respect. They are needs which indicate self-confidence, achievement, efficiency, knowledge, and independence. The fulfillment of esteem needs leads to self-confidence, strength, and capability of being useful in the organization. However, fulfilling these needs results in feeling like inferiority complex, weakness, and helplessness.
e) Self-Actualization Needs
This level represents the highest of all the lower mediate these needs of human beings; in other words, the final step under the need hierarchy model is the realization. It refers to fulfillment.
Kurt Goldstein invented the term self-actualization. It means to become make a reality of what one is potentially good. In effect to self-actualization is the person’s motivation to transform the ability to see the self into existence.
According to Maslow, human needs to following a definite sequence of total control. The second need not arise until the first is reasonably satisfied. The third need does not exist until the first two needs have been well happy, and it was going.
Another side of the need hierarchy is the human needs are unlimited. However, Maslow’s need hierarchy theory is not without a person who disparages someone.
The main Criticisms of the Theory including the following:
- These needs may or may not follow a definite hierarchical order. So to say, there may be extended over to cover the parts in need hierarchy. For example, even if the safety need is not satisfied, the social need may also emerge.
- The need priority model may not be applied at all times in all places.
- Kinds of research show that the diversity of behavior mainly guides man’s behavior at any time. Hence, Maslow’s opinion is that one need is satisfied at one time which is also of doubtful validity.
- In some people, the level of motivation may be permanently lower, for example, a person suffering from chronic unemployment. He may remain satisfied for the rest of his life. If only he or she can get enough food.
Notwithstanding, Maslow’s need hierarchy theory has received tremendous recognition. Particularly among the practicing managers. It can possess by the theory’s ability to know the logic and ease to understand. One researcher concluded that the intuitively strong ideas die hard’.
2. Herzberg’s Motivation Hygiene Theory – Motivation Theories
The psychologist named Frederick Herzberg extended the work of Maslow. He proposed a new motivation theory popularly known as Herzberg’s Motivation Hygiene, also called Two Factor Theory.
Herzberg has conducted a widely reported motivational study on the 200 accountants and engineers. Companies in and around Western Pennsylvania employ them.
He asked these people to describe the two essential incidents at their jobs:
- When did one feel particularly good about the job, and
- When did one feel exceptionally bad about the job? He used the critical incident method of getting the data.
The responses, when analyzed, were found quite exciting and somewhat agreeing the replies respondents gave when they felt good about their jobs were significantly different from the answers given when they felt bad.
Reported good feelings were generally associating with job satisfaction. Whereas the bad feelings with job dissatisfaction Herzberg labeled the job satisfiers motivators, and he called the job dissatisfied a hygiene or maintenance factor.
Takes together, the motivators and hygiene factors have become known as Herzberg’s two-factor theory of motivation.
Herzberg says the opposite of satisfaction is not dissatisfaction. He says that the situating reason is that removing dissatisfaction characteristics from a job does not necessarily make the job satisfying.
Believes in a dual continuous sequence in which the adjacent elements cannot be different from each other. The opposite of ‘satisfaction’ is ‘no satisfaction. It is the opposite of ‘dissatisfaction.’ but not dissatisfaction.
According to Herzberg, today’s motivators are tomorrow’s cleanliness because the occurring stop is influencing persons’ behavior they get them accordingly to one’s cleanliness that motivator of other.
However, Herzberg’s model is labeling with mistakes:
- People generally regularly take credit themselves when things go well. They blame failure on the external environment.
- The theory explains job satisfaction is not the wants.
- Even job satisfaction is not measuring on an overall basis, it is not unlikely that a person may dislike the part of their job but still think the job is acceptable.
- This Theory neglects the situational changes to motivate an individual.
Because of its present nature, salary commonly shows up as a motivator as well as hygiene.
Herzberg’s ‘two-factor motivation theory’ has hugely read few managers unfamiliar with his recommendations without criticism. The primary use of his recommendations lies in planning and controlling the employee’s work.
3. McClelland’s Need Theory – Motivation Theories
It is a well-known concern on the Financial theory of desires as opposing the theory’s hierarchy of satisfaction-dissatisfaction needs. McClelland and his associates develop this McClelland developing his approach based on Henry Murray’s generated long list of motives and manifest needs.
It is using in his early studies of personality. McClelland’s need theory is closely associated with the learning theory because he believes that needs are learned or acquired by the kinds of events. People experienced in their environment and culture.
He found that people who buy a particular need behave differently from those who do not have it. His theory focuses on Murray’s three conditions is achievement, power, and connecting. In the literature, these three needs are abbreviating “n Ach”, “n Pow”, and “n Aff” respectively’.
They are defined as follows:
a) The Need for Achievement
It is the drive to excel in achieving standards and making great efforts to succeed; in other words, the need for achievement is directing toward the competition with an average of great.
McClelland finds that people with a high need for achievement perform better than those with a moderate or low. They need achievement and noted regional or national differences in the achievement desires.
McClelland research identifies the following three characteristics of high-need achievers:
- These achievers have a strong desire to assume personal responsibility for performing a task for finding a solution to a problem.
- The High-need achievers move to set moderately tricky goals and calculate the danger.
- Achiever’s high has a strong desire for performance feedback.
b) Need for Power
The need for power is concerning with making an effect on others, the desire to influence others, the urge to change the people and the desire to make a difference in life. People with a high need for power is the people. Those are like to be in control of people and events. It results in the ultimate satisfaction to man.
The People who have a high need for power are characterized by:
- 1A desire to influence and also direct some other else.
- Want to exercise control over others.
- Concern for maintaining the leader-follower relations.
c) Need for Affiliation
The state’s need is defining as a desire to establish maintains friendly and warm relations with other people, and the need for affiliation in many ways is the same as Maslow’s social needs.
People with a high need for the close association have these characteristics:
- It has a strong desire for acceptance and approval from others.
- They move to conform to the wishes of those people. Whose friendship and companionship they are valued.
- They value the feelings of others.
4. McGregor’s Participation Theory – Motivation Theories
Douglas McGregor created two distinct views of the human being that is on the participation of workers. The first is negative, labeled Theory X, and also the other positive, labeled theory Y.
Theory X is on the following assumptions:
- People in nature wanting to avoid activity; that is, they like to work as little as possible.
- People lack ambition, dislike responsibility, and also prefer to be directed by others.
- People are permanently self-centered and indifferent to organizational needs and goals.
- People are generally easily persuaded to believe something and also not very sharp and bright.
On the direction, Theory Y assumes that:
- People are not by nature are passive or resistant to organizational goals.
- They want to assume the responsibility.
- They want their organization to succeed.
- People are capable of directing their behavior.
- They need achievement.
McGregor tried to adapt through his theories X and Y to outline the utmost to drawing the fencing within which the organizational man is usually watching to behave; the fact remains that no corporate man would belong either to theory X or theory Y.
In reality, he or she shares a distinguishing quality of both. What happens is that man swings from one set of properties to the other, with the changes in his mood and motives in changing and environment.
5. Urwick’s Theory Z – Motivation Theories
It is more after the propositions of theories X and Y from McGregor. The three theorists are Urwick, Rangnekar, and Ouchi- put forward the third theory labeled as Z theory.
The two propositions in Urwicks’s Theory are:
- Each individual should know the organizational goals precisely the amount of contribution through efforts towards the goals.
- Every individual should also know that the relationship on organizational goals will satisfy their positive needs.
However, Ouchi’s Theory Z has attracted a lot of attention from management practitioners and researchers. It will found that Z does not stand for anything but is just the last alphabet in English Language.
Theory Z is the following four discussions:
- Strong Bond between the Organisation and Employers
- Employer’s Participation and Involvement
- No Formal Organization has the structure
- Human Resource Development
Ouchi’s Theory Z represents Japanese management practice: group decision-making, social cohesion, job security, holistic concern for employees, etc., by the American companies in India, Maruti-Suzuki, Hero-Honda, etc., are apply the discussion in Z theory.
6. Argyris’s Theory – Motivation Theories
Argyris has his motivation theory based on the proposition, how management practices affect individual behavior and growth.
The seven changes taking place in a person’s personality make him or her a mature one. In other words, the essence of an individual develops.
Argyris views that immaturity exists in individuals and is mainly because of the organizational setting. The management practices like task specialization, chain of command, unity of direction, and management span.
To make people grow mature. He proposes a gradual shift from the existing pyramidal organization structure to a humanistic system from the current management system to the more flexible and participative management.
He mentioned that such a situation would satisfy their physiological and safety needs band will motivate them to make ready to make more use of their physiological and security requirements.
But also they will motivate them to make ready. To make more use of this potential in achieving the organizational wants.
7. Vroom’s Expectancy Theory – Motivation Theories
Vroom’s Expectancy Theory is one of the most widely accepted explanations of motivation is offering by Victor Vroom on his Expectancy Theory.” It is relating to the cognition process theory of motivation. The idea is finding on the fundamental desire that people will be motivated to exert a high level of effort when they believe that there are relationships between the action they put onwards. The performance that they are achieving, and the outcomes and rewards that they receive.
The critical constructs in the expectancy theory of motivation are
a) Valence
Valence means the value or strength that one places on a particular outcome or reward.
b) Expectancy
It is related to efforts to perform.
c) Instrumentality
The fact, Vroom means the belief that performance is relating to value.
Vroom’s motivation can also express in the form of an equation as follows:
Motivation = Valence x Expectancy x Instrumentality
The model subject to nature; all three variables must have high positive values. To indicate the truth motivated performance choice. If any one of the changes in approaches to zero level. The possibility of the so-motivated performance also touches zero levels.
However, Vroom’s expectancy theory has its critics. The important ones are:
- Critics like Porter and Lawler labeled it as a theory of cognitive pursuit of pleasure. It proposes that an individual is the way it relates to, chooses the course of action. That leads to the most significant degree of pleasure or the slightest depth of the trouble.
- The assumption people are rational and are calculating makes the theory idealistic.
- The expectancy theory will not describe the individual with the relating to differences, but people’s value on various rewards that vary. For example, one employee likes salary to benefits but whereas another person wants to just the reverse—the value for the same reward changes from situation to situation.
Despite all these critics, my expectancy theory’s most significant point explains why a substantial workforce segment. Apply low levels of effort in carrying out the job responsibilities.
8. Porter and Lawler’s Expectancy Theory – Motivation Theories
Porter and Lawler’s theory is an improvement on Vroom’s expectancy theory. They put forward the fact that motivation does not equal satisfaction or performance.
They suggest that the model encounters some of the simplistic traditional assumptions on the positive relationship between satisfaction and performance.
They are proposing a multi-variate model to explain the confusion in the relationship that exists between satisfaction and performance.
What are the essential viewing Porter and Lawler’s model? Is that effort or wants that not lead directly to performance? It is complete, mediated by abilities and a distinguishing quality, and by role perceptions. Ultimately, the performance leads to satisfaction.
These are three main elements in this model. Let us briefly discuss these by one.
a) Effort
Effort means to the amount of energy that an employee applies to a given task. How much effort an employee will put into a job is determined by two factors-
- Value of reward and
- Perception of effort-reward probability.
b) The Performance
One’s effort leads to his or her performance; both may be equal or may not be. However, the amount of commission is determining by the amount of labor. The employee’s ability and role are interpreting; thus, an employee possesses less power and makes the wrong role perception. Then his or her performance may be low despite his putting in a great effort.
c) The Satisfaction
Performance leads to satisfaction. The level of satisfaction that is depends upon the number of rewards one must achieve. If the number of actual tips meets or exceeds to recognize the equitable rewards.
The employee will feel satisfied. In the country, if the actual rewards fall short of perceived ones. Then he or she will be dissatisfied.
Rewards may be of two kinds. They are intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. Examples of inherent rewards are a sense of accomplishment and self-actualization. As regards extrinsic rewards, these may are working conditions and status.
A fair degree of research support that intrinsic rewards are much more likely to produce attitudes about satisfaction. And are related to performance.
There is no denying the fact that the motivation model proposed by Porter. Lawler entirely involves in numbers than other models of motivation. Motivation itself is not a simple cause-effect. But the relationship instead is a complex phenomenon.
Porter and Lawler have made an effort to achieve to measure variables like the values of possible rewards. The perception of effort-rewards probabilities and also the role perceptions in deriving the satisfaction.
They recommended that the managers should carefully consider their reward system and structure the effort-performance-reward-satisfaction. It should be made integral to the entire system of managing men in the organization.
So, this is essential information on the topic of Motivation Theories.
Different elements categorize these theories. These are social satisfaction of an individual and organized by many scholars.
If Queries or Questions is persisting then, comment on the viewpoints.
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