MOTIVATION

Motivation: meaning

Motivation is concerned with why people work in a certain way. Why do people do what they do? In general term motivation can be described as the direction and persistence of action. It is concerned with why people choose a particular course of action in preference to others and why they continue with a chosen action, often over a long period and in the face of difficulties and problems.

Four common characteristics of motivation identified by MItchell

• Motivation is typified as an individual phenomenon.Every person is unique which is to be demonstrated.
• Motivation is described, usually as intentional, under control of employees and behavior is influenced by motivation.
• Motivation is multifaceted. What gets people activated & forces to direct behavior.
• The purpose of motivational theories is to predict behavior. Forces influence choice of action.

Motivational Drives: Mcclelland

• Achievement Motivation: A drive to accomplish objectives and get ahead.
• Affiliation Motivation: A drive to relate to people effectively.
• Competence Motivation: A drive to high quality works and develop one’s skill.
• Power Motivation: A drive to influence people and situations.

Interesting features of McClelland theory

• People high up in the org tend to have a strong power and a wish to make an impact on events. They have largely met their need for achievement. They can not go for affiliation because people at the top cannot have close relationship with other in org.
• People in the middle of the org. hierarchy are likely to have considerable achievement needs- they are often striving to get to top. They have some need for power, the need for affiliation is played down
• People at the lower level of org often have a strong drive for affiliation.

McClelland Personality Features

McClelland’s model is useful in that appropriate to the fact that when people are not satisfied with their work lives they become frustrated. They may seek satisfaction, become antagonistic, or apathetic. He argues that individuals have a number of key personality features, and that job success depends on their being able to combine these features into a satisfying pattern in their work in organisations. He classifies these personality features as follows:

• Cupertino- the desire to be helpful & to carry out the wishes of those who hold legitimate authority. Some individuals like to have their roles clearly defined & to behave in a way which is consistent with such roles.
• Approval- some people need people like them. They want to be accepted; they are warm, friendly individuals, who seek the approval of others.
• Power, prestige, money- for this personality type the actual work may not matter too much; what is important to such people is the money they earn, the power they exercise or the prestige that is accorded to them. They may even dislike the work itself, but the status attached to it compensates.
• Curiosity- the need to explore, to find out about things & make discoveries. This is the driving force for research scientists, etc.
• Achievements- some people set high but realistic standards against which to measure their performance; their thoughts are constantly on meeting challenges & succeeding. According to McClelland, achievement-oriented people are the real successes in industry.

Human Needs

When a machine malfunctions we recognize that it needs oil or any other repair. Whatever is done on the basis of knowledge and analysis. If the machine operator malfunctions then also we recognize that he needs something and that something may be his training/development or incentive in any form and that is the human need we have to identify and meet.

Types of Needs

• Basic physical needs or primary needs like food water, sex, sleep, air etc. These needs arise from the basic requirements of life and are important for survival.
• Social or psychological needs or secondary needs like self-esteem, sense of duty, competitiveness, affection etc. These needs are more vague because they represent need of the mind and spirit rather than of the physical body. Many of these needs develop as people mature.

Variation in needs: secondary needs vary among people more than primary needs.

• Secondary needs are strongly conditioned by experience.
• Vary in types and intensity among people.
• Are subject to change across time within any individual.
• Cannot usually be isolated, rather work in combination and influence one another.
• Are often hidden from conscious recognition.
• Are vague feeling as opposed to specific physical needs.
• Influence behavior.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow's suggested that people are in a continuous state of motivation, and that nature of that motivation is variable and complex. Further people rarely reach to a state of complete satisfaction except for a short time. As one need is satisfied, another assumes prominence and motivates further efforts until satisfied.

Lower & Higher order needs: Five categories of needs

• Physiological Needs: very powerful motivator. Food , sleep, sex etc. Importance- money , employment.
• Safety / security : protect people from environment, Job and emotional security. Position. Sickness protection.
• Love/social needs: Belongingness, affections etc. 1st of secondary needs .Formal and informal association. Importance.
• Esteem/ego: People want to feel a certain pride in themselves – that their abilities are tested and that they are achieving something, that they are useful as individual. Noticed, some degree of prestige and status. Importance. Symbols. Job title.
• Self actualization: to become everything that one is capable of becoming.

HERZBERG’S MOTIVATORS AND HYGIENE FACTORS

In the study of Herzberg employees name different types of conditions for good and bad feelings. That is if a feeling of achievement led to a good feeling, the lack of achievement was rarely given as cause for bad feeling. Instead some other factor was given as a cause of bad feeling. In general, the results indicated that those factors which brought satisfaction met Maslow’s higher category of need whereas discontent, frustration etc derived from factors peripheral to the actual work.

Motivators/Satisfiers Maintenance/hygiene/Disatisfiers:

>recognition           >type of supervision 

> advancement       >interpersonal relations 

> the work itself     >salary

> responsibility      >working conditions

> achievements      >co. policy

Alderfer’s ERG theory

• Employees are initially interested in satisfying their existence needs, which combine physiological and security factors.
• Relatedness needs are at the next level and these involve being understood and accepted by people above below and around the employee at work and away from it.
• Growth needs involve the desire for both self-esteem and self-actualization.

Behavior Modification

OB mod is based on the idea that behavior depends on its consequence. So it is possible for a manager to control employee behavior by manipulating their consequence. It relies heavily on the law of effect which states that a person tends to repeat behavior that is accompanied by favorable consequence (positive reinforcement) & vice versa. So manager has to identify the powerful consequence & be able to administer them in such a way that employees see the link between the behavior to be affected & the consequences.

Alternative Consequences

• Positive reinforcement: a favorable cons that encourages repetition of a behavior.
• Shaping is a systematic & progressive application of positive reinforcement.
• Negative reinforcement occurs when behavior is accompanied by removal of an unfavorable consequence.
• Punishment :Administer an unfavorable cons that discourages a certain behavior.
• Extinction : withholding a significant positive cons that were previously provided for a desirable behavior.

Interpreting Behavior Modification

• It makes managers become conscious motivators.
• It encourages managers to analyse employee behavior.
• Application of this process often encourages effective to devote more time to monitoring employee behaviors.
• It can lead to substantial improvements in specific areas like absences, tardiness & error rates.

Guidelines for applying Behavior Modification

• Identify the exact behavior to be modified
• Make sure expect behavior within employee’s capability.
• Determine rewards that employees value.
• Clarify connection between behavior & reward.
• Use positive reinforcement if possible.
• Use punishment in unusual circumstances
• Ignore minor undesirable behavior to allow extinction.
• Use shaping procedures.
• Provide reinforcement frequently,
• Minimum time between correct response & reinforcement.

Goal Setting

• Goals are targets and objectives for future performance. They help focus employees’ attention on items of greater importance to the org, encourage better planning for the allocation of critical resources & stimulate the preparation of action plans for goal attainment.
• Goal setting works as motivational process because it creates a discrepancy between current & expected performance.
• Elements of goal setting are: acceptance, specificity, challenge, monitoring & feedback.

Self-efficacy- Competent belief: some tips for self-efficiency

• Don’t imply that employees are incompetent.
• Don’t talk down to them about their jobs.
• Don’t find petty faults with their results.
• Don’t criticize their work in front of their peers.
• Don’t belittle the importance of their jobs.
• Do praise them for their appropriate efforts.
• Do ask for their input.
• Do listen carefully to their ideas for improvement
• Do share positive feedback from their peers
• Do provide formal recognition for their achievements.

The expectancy model

Vroom explains that motivation is a result of three factors: how much one wants a reward (valence), one’s estimate of probability that effort will result in successful performance (expectancy), & one’s estimate that performance will result in receiving rewards ( instrumentality).

Valence x expectancy x instrumentality = motivation.

Range of valence, expectancy & instrumentality

• Valence may be strong avoidance (-1), Indifference (0) & strong preference (+1). 
• Expectancy may be low probability (0) to high probability (+1). 
• Instrumentality may be low probability to high probability.

The impact of uncertainty due to uncertain relation between effort,performance &reward

• Primary and secondary outcomes.
• Many outcomes are controlled by others.
• Two ways to address the uncertainty- work to strengthen both the actual value of rewards & formal connection between effort & performance & between performance & reward – recognize & accept the legitimacy of employees performance.

Comparison Models: equity and attribution

• Equity model concerned with fair reward in psychological, social & economic contexts.
• One’s own outcomes/One’s own inputs= others’outcomes/others’inputs.
• Inputs are contributions due to education, seniority, experience, loyalty, commitment, time, effort, creativity & performance etc.
• Outcomes are perceived reward to get from jobs like pay and different benefits.
• Rewards are equity, under reward and over-reward.

Attribution Model

Attribution is the process by which people interpret & assign causes for their own & others behavior.

• Functional and dysfunctional.
• Consistency: Stable or unstable behavior across time. Distinctiveness. Consensus: behave in a similar manner.
• Personal vs. Situational attributions.

Self- serving bias

Level of Employee Performance	Perceived By	Probable Attribution
Success	Employee Manager	Personal characteristics (high ability or strong effort) Situational factors (easy task or good luck)
Failure	Employee Manager	Situational factors (hard task or bad luck) Personal characteristics (low ability or poor effort)