Chapter 12 Motivation

What is motivation? Explain the relationship between employee expectations, job satisfaction, motivation, employee success & organisational productivity / success How do motivated employees benefit an organisation? Motivation theorists must know the following four: - Abraham Maslow - Frederick Herzberg - Edwin Locke Explain how HR managers can apply each of the above motivation theories to individual employees, provide examples

Okay so last week we spoke about how it was important to keep employees motivated. So were going to look at employee motivation a little more in depth, and look at a few specific theories of motivation that you guys will need to know. Motivating employees is really important. Weve spoken about meeting employee expectations, and that they should be satisfied in their job, then we want to be motivating them because we want them to work hard and be productive. Motivating employees should increase productivity. Motivation is what drives a person to behave in a certain way. So for example, what makes you want to study hard? Is it that you want to get into a university? Is it that you want a particular job? Is it just that you have pride? Whatever it is, whatever the motivation is that makes you go out and do study and revision thats revision. What motivates people? Thats a big question!! And a common answer is that money motivates people and what youll find in these theories that we study is that money is important, dont get me wrong, but its other things that are actually more important. Think of it this way, think of the worst job imaginable sometimes even a large sum of money wouldnt convince you to do this job. For me this would be So theres a large number of theories that have been conducted by researchers to show what motivates employees. We have to have a look at three. The three that we have to learn about, and you have to know all three because in the exam and in your SACS they can ask specifically about anyone, or all three of these theories. Maslows hierarchy of needs Herzbergs 2 factor theory Lockes goal setting theory. First of all well be looking at Maslows hierarchy of needs. This theory is a hierarchy, its based around the theory that employees are motivated to satisfy 5 specific needs: physiological, safety, belongingness and love, self-esteem, self actualisation. And they work in that order. There are lower order needs, so the lower order form the bottom are physiological, safety etc. So the lower order of needs, need to be satisfied first before an employee will be motivated by the next level. For example, physiological the way the theory works, is that your normal food, water and

shelter, if you dont have that you will be motivated by that need until its satisfied. Once youve satisfied that, and youve got enough food, water and shelter, you will then be motivated on how safe you are, it continues on, youll want relationships, youll want to feel good about yourself with self-esteem and self actualisation is about your absolute best. So thats how the theory works. We can apply that theories to employees (it wasnt made for employees). Ill show you that in a second. While a need is unsatisfied it remains a motivator, and dominates thoughts until it is fulfilled. For eg. youre in the workplace youre not feeling safe, in terms of job security that is going to be your number one motivator, according to this theory you wont be motivated by having strong relationships. The main thing youll be worried about it making sure you have enough job security. Once thats satisfied Maslow says that you will be motivated by love and relationships and so on, up the hierarchy you go. Once its satisfied the employee moves up to the next level. *If needs are unfulfilled an organisation can expect increased turnover and decreased performances. Because we want to push employees up to those higher levels of self-esteem and self-actualisation because that is where the employee really starts to achieve their best. The first three those lower order of needs is where theyre tyrying to get themselves settled and meet expectations in the organisation. But then the self esteem and self actualisation is where the employee can really achieve. Lets look at Human resource management and maslows theory. HR manager could se the theory to motivate their employees. One way is to identify where a parituclar employee or staff member was on the hierarchy and then implement some strategies to satisfy and move them up to the higher levels. So if it was that they were motivated by job security, maybe it could be reassurance that theyre safe in their job, or it could be you put them on a longer contract for example. Its important to note that employees can be at different levels. Not everyone in an organisation (remember were talking LSO here, so at least 200 employees), that those employees will often be at different levels. Some may be right at the top and some might be right at the bottom and everything in between. There may be a variety of strategies that need to be implanted. Ok heres an example: Heres Jerry hes our manager. Hes got lots of employees, but were going to look at 2 specifically. Heres Adam hes a bit lonely and he wants better relationships he wants better relationships with his fellow employees, hes got an entry level job he feels safe in his job, but he wants better relationships. Thats his motivation. Paul hes a bit nervous because hes worrying about job security he doesnt feel safe in his job. So these are two different employees that Jerry has, and obviously hes going to have a lot more, but these are just two. So what can Jerry do?

Eg. he may say to everyone in the organisation that theyre going 10 pin bowling on a Friday night and have a few drinks after work. That;s going to help build relationships between employees you get together, have a bit of a laugh outside of work and get to know each other. So, he sets that up and thats a legitimate strategy that he could use. For poor old Paul so is worried about his job, Jerry could give him a longer term contract maybe Paul was on a 3 month contract? Jerry could give him a 12 month or 2 year contract and that ensures his job security. So putting in place those strategies, and there could be many strategies that you could use, they could then push those employees up to the next level. So once Adam is satisfied by those relationships which belongs to the belongingness and love type area, he is then going to be motivated by self-esteen. Now, Paul on the otherhand who was worried about job security jerry provides him with that job security, the startegies are already in place for relationships, so he also moves up to the selfesteem. Then its Jerrys job to get them up to the level of self-actualisation where theyre really going to be doing their best. To recap 5 levels Physiological Safety Belongingness and love Self-esteem Self-actualisation Te lower level needs to be satisfied before the employee will be motivated by the next level. Important to note that employees can be at different levels in the hierarchy, so a variety of strategies need to be implemented.

. Describe Maslows motivation theory and explain how manager can use it to improve the motivation of the employees. (4 marks) . Why would employers want their employees to reach the higher order of needs? (2 marks)

If employees are motivated by better relationships, describe 2 strategies they could use to meet this need (4 marks)

Maslows Hierarchy of needs

Maslows hierarchy of needs is a theory which stated that human needs are arranged in a hierarchy from: The most basic physiological needs, safety and security, belonging and love progressing up to more higher order needs (social needs) Self esteem and self actualisation. Only when lower order needs were satisfied could people progress to higher order needs.
The Hierarchy of Needs is a psychological theory originally developed by Abraham Maslow which states that individuals have ascending sets of needs which motivate them. o Needs that are not satisfied motivate behaviour o Needs that are satisfied do not motivate behaviour o Needs are arranged to a hierarchy of importance Self-actualisation: ultimate goals and potential. E.g. Challenging work involving creativity, opportunities for personal growth and advancement Esteem: This stage represents the desire of an individual to achieve and be recognised and differentiated from others. E.g. Promotions, praise and recognition Social: This stage represents the need of an individual for the companionship of others and a sense of belonging, acceptance and love. E.g. Corporate functions Safety and Security: This stage represents the desire to be protected from danger and fear. E.g. Insurance and retirement plans, safe and healthy working conditions Physiological: This stage represents the desire to meet the basic needs required by human beings in order to live. E.g. Pay, benefits, working conditions

Herzbergs Theory

The next motivation theory is Herzbergs two factor theory. First of all, remember that maslow had 5 levels, Herzberg has 2 groups in his theory. What he calls them is hygiene and motivation factors. So theres hygiene factors and theres motivation factors. Firstly, well look at hygiene factors, theyre factors that refer to the features of an environment, rather than the actual type of work. So, it is important to note that hygiene factors are NOT motivators, but they need to be present to ensure that no dissatisfaction exists. If the hygiene factors are not there, by not providing them, they will actually lead to employee dissatisfaction. If theyre not there, employees will be dissatisfied and will have no chance of being motivated. Whereas if they are there, they will not be motivated BUT it makes sure theyre at sort of like a neutral level and they wont be dissatisfied. A few examples of hygiene factors include: pay, job security, working conditions, relationships, rules and policies. Now, some of those were motivators under Maslows theory remember pay, job security and relationships they were all motivators according to Maslows theory, but according to Herzberg they dont provide any motivation, they need to be present and provided in the workplace, but they dont provide any motivation, they just ensure that an employee is not dissatisfied. The motivators identified by Herzberg on the other hand do provide motivation. Motivators allow employees to feel satisfied at work. Herzberg identifies the following as key motivators in the workplace: achievement, recognition, (more) responsibility, the type of work (that means challenging work), career advancement, etc. these kinds of things. If you look at those areas there weve seen them before theyre in Maslows theory, in the higher order needs, so in self-actualisation and self-esteem. So essentially, one of the similarities between Herzberg and Maslow is that the factors in the theory are quite similar, and in fact often a lot of them theyre the same. BUT, Hertzberg says that some of those things, that are in Maslows lower order of needs, dont provide motivation. Whereas the higher order of needs, such as achievement, recognition, responsibility, career advancement theyre the real things that provide motivation. Its important that this theory reminds managers that some factors which may seem positive, such as pay, job security etc, can have very little impact on motivation or satisfaction. In order to increase motivation in the long term HR managers need to focus on the features that are more important to employees, such as getting employees to achieve, giving them recognition telling them its good work, or giving rewards, giving them responsibility, giving them challenging work, giving them promotions and opportunities for career advancement those kind of opportunities. Thats important and its a key difference between the theory we learnt earlier. To recap:

Herzbergs theory divides needs into TWO separate factors: Maintenance factors (hygiene) can lead to dissatisfaction if not met and include pay, working conditions, job security and work relationships. Motivational factors (satisfiers) can lead to job satisfaction and include: achievement, recognition, responsibility and career advancement.
he needs identified by Maslow are either maintenance o Maintenance factors are needs which have a tendency to cause dissatisfaction when absent, but do not necessarily promote motivation in their presence. o Motivational factors are needs which have a tendency to promote motivation and job satisfaction.

Lockes theory

Think back to some goals you have set for yourself. Discuss with the class what impact they had on your motivation?

The last motivation theory that you guys will need to know is Lockes goal setting theory. So were been through Maslows theory, Hertzbergs theory and now Lockes theory. These are the three that you definitely need to know and you can be asked specifically about. This one is fairly straightforward, as the other ones are also, there are a few things that you must include in your answer when youre talking about Lockes Goal Setting theory, if youre explaining how it works. It is just that its a goal setting theory and it involves some feedback. Essentially, these four points are essential to include in any answer about Lockes theory. The theory is about challenging goals (not just any basic goal that an employee could achieve easily). Now remember, these are motivation theories, so in order to create or provide motivation for the employee, the goals need to be challenging, but they cant be so challenging that the employee becomes overwhelmed (that will cause the motivation to go away). They need to be specific, rather than just saying improve our sales as a sales person, they need to be specific. Its important to that there also set collaboratively, so that the employee is really involved in setting their own goals, so its not the manager saying righto, Ive got a goal for you, I want you to achieve this. Its about the employee having a real say in the goals they set for themselves, and sometimes, they will even be set on their own. But that collaboration is important, so the employee is not just setting the goal for themselves, thats not helping the organisation, so the manager needs to be there to ensure the goals are in line with the organisational goals and the employee needs to be involved to ensure its something that they really want to achieve and that helps to provide motivation. Lastly, positive feedback needs to be given along the journey. This allows employees to feel valued, which again provides motivation. That positive reinforecement, or maybe help along the way on how to achieve that particular goal. Eg. Heres tom, hes a sales person. He averages $10,000 per month. If he was to meet with his sales manager, they would work together to collaboratively set goals. The sales manager would be like well we want to increase goals but Tom is also keen, hes like I want to set new benchmarks, I want to improve so together them come up with a goal to increase sales to $18,000. Now that is specific, but you could be even more specific by say putting a time frame on it. Eg. within the next 6 months, this is the target I want to hit. Along the way the sales manager gives positive reinforcement, but also, more importantly, give guideance on how they can go about achieveing that goal and how they can help in any way. But it should be challenging and it needs to be specific. Lets see if it meets the criteria 1. Well he was making $10,000 sales, so now $18,000 thats quite a substantial jump, so yep definitely challenging 2. Specific? Yes it is. Could be even more specific by giving it a timeframe. You have a specific figure in mind for eg, not just saying we want to increase sales if you increased by $1 does that make you happy? 3. Collaboration they decided together. Tom had a real say in what the goal was that he wanted

4. Feedback the manager is constantly giving feedback, positive reinforcement, giving assistance, helping his along the way. So these are the four main things if you were to give an answer about Lockes theory.

Lockes theory revolves around goal-setting in motivation. When establishing the goals, they must be: Specific Measurable Achievable / Attainable Relevant Time-Bound The SMART principle outlines that goals/objectives must be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time bound. The value of the goal setting is so well recognised that entire management systems, like Management by Objectives (MBO). Application of the goal-setting approach involves participation between managers and subordinates at every organisational level. It is linked to the formalised operations strategy by of Management by Objectives (MBO).