NORTHERN ILOILO POLYTECHNIC STATE COLLEGE

Estancia, Iloilo
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE EDUCATION
Summer 2011 – 2012

VALUES EDUCATION

JANET B. ASIDOY AND MELLY P. BALTAR DR. LEONISA G. BABAS

Reporters Professor

MAN’S BEHAVIOR AND MOTIVATION AT WORK

OVERVIEW

Organizations are composed of people with varying types of behavior

and levels of motivation. Man’s behavior and motivation are fundamental
aspects of the psychosocial system of an organization. Each individual in the
organization must have a clear understanding of the behavior and what
motivates them to do their work efficiently and productively. This is
beneficial to the smooth flow of activities geared towards the achievement of
organizational goals.

MAN’S BEHAVIORAL PATTERN

Several authors have defined behavior as a manner of acting, whether

good or bad. It is a person’s conduct. Individuals have their own behavioral
patterns. Behavioral patterns are styles used by a person in working out his
activities according to Kast and Rosenzweig (1979). They talked about the
three relatively distinct divisions in the study of human systems, namely:
1. Anatomy provides a picture of the various parts of the human body.
2. Physiology presents information to the vital functions performed by

the organs.
3. Behavior pertains to the explicit action pattern of man.
 These 3 distinct divisions of the human system must function altogether
in the performance of an act. Both the anatomical and physiological capacities
must be present in an activity to ensure its occurrence. Man’s behavioral (b)
pattern has been influenced by his inheritance or learning. His anatomy and
physiology are more inherited than his psychology. Man inherits a range of
capabilities, but the specific level of performance within that range is obtained
through learning. His experiences play a vital role in transforming the
psychological system and forming a behavioral pattern. Kast and Rosenzweig
(1979) shows the relationship between behavior and its factor.
Behavior = f (personality, environment)
Man’s personality is a composite combination of physical and mental
qualities, values, attitudes, beliefs, tastes, ambitions, interests, habits, and
other attributes that make up a unique self. His environment consists of
family, school, church, community and other social groups with whom he
interacts from the very beginning of his life. An individual’s behavior changes
with his interaction with these different groups and in different situations. He
behaves differently when he is with his family, friends, co-workers, superiors
and others with whom he has contact. Environment provides the direction of
the growth and development of an individual. The environment we are
exposed to play as an essential role in shaping our personalities and behavior.

The interaction between an individual’s inherited potentials and

environment influences determine the level of development at various stages
of his life. Although people share a general pattern of development, varying
hereditary and environmental influences result in individual differences.
INDIVIDUAL SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES

Anatomically and physiologically, human beings have similarities and

differences. The process of behavior is the same for all individuals. While
behavioral patterns may vary significantly, the process by which they occur is
fundamental for all individuals. Kast and Rosenzweig present 3 interrelated
assumptions about human behavior.
1. Behavior is caused. Man acts in reaction to stimuli.
2. Behavior is motivated. Stimulus is filtered by wants or needs.
3. Behavior is goal-oriented. Man is motivated to achieve goals.

If a goal is attained, the current behavior is terminated, and the

individual’s interest turns to some other activity. If goal is not achieved, the
person will continue the activity until his need is satisfied.

The Person

Need

Want Tension Goal

Discomfort

Behavior
Stimulus

(Cause) A Basic Model of Behavior

This basic model of behavior process is the same for all

individuals.
Heredity and environment influence the factors that cause the
uneven rate of growth and development among individuals. No two
individuals are exactly alike as a result of their development and adjustments.
Each individual brings his or her own interests, attitudes and needs to the
work situation. These factors are called Individual Differences. It is a common
knowledge that human beings differ in various ways. Form their physical
features to their behavior and inherent uniqueness such as those involving
mental ability, personality, and attitudes, people are distinct from one another
in varying degrees.
 In the workplace, meeting adequately the individual needs of the
workers become an integral concern of an organization. Individual behavior in
a work situation has been swayed by several factors. These essential
influences filter through personal attitude through perception, cognition and
motivation. The outcome of the various activities on behavior depends on how
they are perceived by the individual through their senses. Perception is basic
to understanding behavior because it is the means by which stimuli affect an
individual. A stimulus that is not perceived has no effect on behavior; or an
individual behaves on the basis of what is perceived rather than what is not.
On the other hand, cognition can be used in two ways. Cognitive systems of
individuals represent what they know about themselves and the environment.
These systems are developing through cognitive process that includes
perceiving, imagining, thinking, reasoning, and decision-making. The more
we recognize an individual’s cognitive system, the better we are able to
predict his behavior. Cognition implies a purposeful process toward the
acquisition of knowledge. A motive is what prompts a person to act in a
certain manner or at least develop a specific behavior.

MAN’S MOTIVATION

Man must be properly motivated in order for him to do and work his
best. There must be something that will impel him or urge him to exert his
efforts. That something is the end of his action termed as MOTIVE. In an
ordinary situation, man simply works for the satisfaction of his needs. In the
workplace, man works for the attainment of organizational goals and
objectives, and of course for the purpose of getting a raise in salary, a
promotion, prestige for himself, both material and immaterial incentives and
rewards.
 THE MOTIVE OF AN ACT

Agapay (1991) defines the motives of an act as the purpose which the
doer wishes to achieve by such actions. This drives man to move or act in
order to achieve motive or a purpose. Motive is the end of human act. Man,
therefore, works for the satisfaction of his needs, desires or wants. Man must
be motivated to achieve a higher level of efficiency and good performance
towards his job.

MOTIVATION AND NEED

Motivation is the willingness of an individual or worker to exert effort to

achieve a goal or an objective for a reward. Man works not only for monetary
reward but for self-actualization as well. It is the need, want, or motive within
the individual that urge him to accomplish his objective as a worker.

Motivation is the willingness to exert high levels of effort towards

organizational goals, conditioned by the efforts and ability to satisfy some
individual needs. Robbins (1996) narrows his focus to organizational goals in
order to reflect our respective interests in work-related behavior. The 3
elements in his definitions are effort, organizational goals and needs.

Effort is related to the measure of intensity or the degree of force

exerted. How a worker tries hard must be directed by the attainment of
organizational goals. Once your goals are achieved your needs are satisfied.

Unsatisfied Tension Drive Search Behavior Satisfied Need Reduction of

Need Tension

Robbin’s Motivation Process

 Motivation is strongly influenced by the needs of an individual. Needs
are the basic components we cannot do without in our life. This is a
physiological state of deficiency, which encourages man to work.

Need turns into motive. As man works to satisfy his needs, tension or
stress arises. This tension is referred to as drive. Drive spurs activity until a
goal is reached. Goal is the objective of the individual in order to satisfy his
needs. This leads a worker to search behavior to find particular goals that, if
achieved, will satisfy his/her needs and reduce his/her tension.

Once needs are satisfied, tension disappears and stability or equilibrium

takes its place. Satisfaction, stability, and equilibrium which characterize the
individual then take place. If another need or motive arises in an individual,
the motivation process starts all over again.

Robbins (1996) says that to ensure satisfaction of needs, individual’s

needs must be compatible and consistent with the organizational goals.

Motivation is that concept that stands for the underlying force impelling
behavior and giving it direction. It implies active, integrated and directed
behavior. Motivation may be referred to both to the energy expended in goal
seeking or to the internal or external factors which help initiate and maintain
organized effort. Motivation serves as a guide and direction for a person’s
behavior – how he is going to achieve his goal as well as that of the
organization.

Martires (1999) describes motivation as the intrinsic inducement that

propels an individual to think, feel and perform in certain ways. It is
internalized and the most important yet indefinable determinant of work
behavior. It is imperative, therefore, to meet the needs of the people first in
order to meet the needs of the organization. Remember though that workers at
different levels of the company have changeable and different needs. The
management should be on the lookout for these different individual needs.
They should have a thorough knowledge of the importance of motives and of
the different theories of motivation to guide, lead and direct their workers to
perform their work effectively ad productively towards the attainment of
organizational goals and satisfaction of both their needs and that of the
organization.

IMPORTANCE OF MOTIVATION

Motivation is directed towards the satisfaction of needs and the

reduction of tension of the person. Calderon (2001) gives four specific
importance of motivation, to wit:
1. It directs activities towards the achievement of a goal.
2. It controls and directs human behavior.
3. It inculcates spiritual and moral values in the minds of the people.
4. It gives satisfaction and happiness to the individual.

In the realization of one’s goals and objectives, an individual is required

to behave and act morally and spiritually in order to be happy and contented
for a job well done. The employee will be greatly satisfied and happy once his
goals are achieved and his needs are fully satisfied. This leads to efficiency
and good productivity.

THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

1. Theory X and Theory Y

 Douglas McGregor (1960) introduces two diverse assumptions about
workers which he labeled as Theory X and Theory Y. Under Theory X, the
assumptions given were negative.

1. Employees have an inherent dislike for work and, if at all possible, will
avoid it.
2. Because employees dislikes work, they must be coerced, controlled,
directed or threatened with punishment toward the attainment of goals.
3. Employees will avoid responsibility and look for direction at any time
possible.
4. Most workers put security above all other factors connected with work
and will exhibit little ambition.

Under Theory Y, the assumptions given were positive:

1. Work is a natural occurrence as rest or play.

2. If workers are committed to the organizational objectives, they will
exercise self-direction and control.
3. Commitment to objectives is a function of the rewards associated
with their goals.
4. Employees, if properly motivated, will not only accept but also seek
responsibility.
5. The ability to create and make innovative decisions in the widely appointed
among the population.

2. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory

 Maslow classifies human needs into five levels, ranked in their order of
priorities.

1. Physiological needs like food, shelter, clothing, water, rest and the like
are basic to human existence.

2. Safety and security needs are concerned with the employee’s security
from physical danger or security from injury and adverse economic
conditions.
3. Belongingness and love need are about worker’s need for affection,
affiliation, identification, and acceptance by others.
4. Esteem and prestige needs include the desire for self-respect, attention
and social approval for his achievements, ego status, self-assertion,
self-confidence, prestige, reputation, and admiration from other people.
5. Self-actualization and self-realization needs are the highest level that is
satisfied only after the needs at the four levels have been met.

3. McClelland’s Theory of Needs

David McClelland’s theory of needs is centered on 3 needs:

1. Need for achievement refers to the drive to excel, to achieve in

relation to a set of standards, to strive and to succeed.
2. Need to power si the desire to have impact, influence and control
over others.
3. Need for affiliation refers to the desire for friendly and closer
interpersonal relationship.

4. Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory

 It deals with the problem of attitudes of workers, that a worker’s relation
to work is basic and that’s one’s attitude towards work can determine either
his success or failure. He makes a conclusion that people have different
categories of needs that are independent of each other and which affect them
in different ways. He classifies these into two groups:

1. The Motivation Factors

Herzberg’s findings reveal that employees are motivated to work when

they are happy with their jobs. They are challenged to work with the
expectations of accomplishment and reward. These motivation factors that are
related to job contentment may be the work itself, achievement, responsibility,
growth or advancement. Workers who feel good about their work tend to
attribute these factors to job satisfaction.

2. The Hygiene Factors or Maintenance Factors

This is related to job environment. These hygiene or maintenance factors

hat lead to extreme dissatisfaction on the employees refer to company policies
and administration, supervision, interpersonal relations, and working
conditions. The presences of these factors only maintain current levels of
efficiency and production but do not lead to improvement of production or to
a better performance. The employees who feel dissatisfied with these
unsatisfactory factors or conditions are also called dissatisfiers. It means
further that if the employee’s pay or salary, fringe benefits, working
conditions and company policies are inadequate, the workers will feel
dissatisfied.

5. Adam’s Equity Theory

 J. Stacey Adams (1965) maintains that when people work in exchange
for pay; they tend to think in terms of their contribution to the job (inputs) in
relation to what they get for working (outcomes). Inputs correspond to
anything workers perceive or see as deserving of a payoff such as educational
qualification, experience, skills, job effort and seniority; while Outcomes
refer to factors workers see as payoff for their invested efforts such as pay,
fringe benefits, job status, seniority benefits and job prerequisites or
allowances.

Equity exist if an employee thinks that, in comparison to others, what he

or she is giving to the organization is equal to what is being received.

The Adam’s Equity Theory opines that when an employee feels that his
or her high level of inputs are unfairly rewarded than an employee with lower
inputs, he should act to eliminate the tension as a result of perceived inequity.

The following are some alternative ways to reduce inequity:

1. Reduce work output
2. Reduce quality of work
3. Persuade the boss for a raise in salary
4. Quit from the job
5. Select another “comparison” person
6. Distort inputs or outcomes as well as those of the “comparison” person
7. Harassment of the “comparison” person

Goodman (1977) and Goodman and Friedman (1971) strongly support

the equity theory predictions. They make a distinction between the quality of
work done by the workers. As a conclusion, hourly-paid individuals who feel
underpaid produce fewer units of work and the quality of their work is inferior
than those who feel equitably paid.

Research results indicate that employees do act to reduce perceived inequities

over time and are motivated by contemplation of equity. Unfortunately,
however, the Equity Theory has been censured for some unclear concepts like
the mode of inequity reduction an individual will employ and the way in
which a “comparison” person is chosen.

6. Locke’s Goal Theory

John Locke’s (1968) goal theory is an attempt to explain the relationship

between the intention (goal) and the behavior. Locke speculates that clearly
stated, specific and difficult goals, if accepted, will result in higher
performance than ambiguous or unclear, nonspecific, easily attainable goals,
or no goals at all. He says that goal setting reconciles the effects of feedback,
participation and incentives on performance.

Locke’s goal theory entails that goals should be set clearly and
specifically at a high but realistic level. The authorities must not presume that
goals are understood and accepted by the employees when they are not. This
assumption of ten results in the employee’s ineffectiveness. Thus,
Management by Objectives (MBO) helps in goal setting. It calls attention to
the participation of both management and employees in setting goals, in the
preparation of action plans, in the formulation of criteria for success and
periodic feedback sessions. The employees should also be informed of the
results of their performance for it increases the benefits of goal setting.

Locke’s goal theory has been condemned for being laid on a solid
intuitive foundation. However, it has proved useful to several organizations
and has received considerable empirical support over the past years.

GENERAL WAYS OF MOTIVATING PEOPLE

 Sartain, et al (1973) as cited be Sevilla, et al (2000), mentions the
manner by which people are motivated.

1. By Force.

2. By Enticement.

3. By Identification or Ego-Involvement

These three ways of motivating your workers must be instituted to avoid

conflicts or problems in the future.