There Is No One Best Way To Motivate the Worker, the Best Approach Depends On the Circumstances In Which the Manager Finds Himself
Motivation By: Joseph Igben THERE IS NO ONE BEST WAY TO MOTIVATE THE WORKER, THE BEST APPROACH DEPENDS ON THE CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH THE MANAGER FINDS HIMSELF BY JOSEPH IBENI IGBEN A TERM PAPER FOR HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (MBA 616) SUBMITTED TO PROFESSOR P.B. JOHNNIE (LECTURER) OF ABUBARKAR TAFAWA BALEWA UNIVERSITY PORT-HARCOURT OUTREACH. 30TH OCTOBER, 2000 INTRODUCTION A good first step towards understanding the best way to motivates people is to ask "What do people want from their jobs?" We might answer, "money" or "power" but really it is very difficult to judge because depending on our own individual values and beliefs, we are not all motivated by the same things to the same degree. Managers need to be aware that the things that motivate them may not necessarily motivate their employees. Then what is motivation? MEANING OF IS MOTIVATION? Motivation can be defined as a concept used to describe the factors within an individual which arouse, maintain and channel behaviour towards a goal. It is more the removal of obstacles to good work than it is "inspiring" people to work harder. There is an old saying you can take a horse to the water but you cannot force it to drink; it will drink only if it's thirsty - so with people. They will do what they want to do or otherwise motivated to do. Whether it is to excel on the workshop floor or in the 'ivory tower' they must be motivated or driven to it, either by themselves or through external stimulus. Motivation is, in effect, a means to reduce and manipulate the gap between an individual's actual state and some desired state and the manager tries to reduce this gap. It is inducing others in a specific way towards goals specifically stated by the motivator. Naturally, these goals as also the motivation system must conform to the corporate policy of the organization. The motivational system must be tailored to the situation and to the organization. In one of the most elaborate studies on employee motivation, involving 31,000 men and 13,000 women, the Minneapolis Gas Company sought to determine what their potential employees desire most from a job. This study was carried out during a 20 year period from 1945 to 1965 and was quite revealing. The ratings for the various factors differed only slightly between men and women, but both groups considered security as the highest rated factor. company - proud to type of work advancement The next three factors were; work for Surprisingly, factors such as pay, benefits and working conditions were given a low rating by both groups. So after all, and contrary to common belief, money is not the prime motivator. (Though this should not be regarded as a signal to reward employees poorly or unfairly.) Another survey also revealed that workers were actually motivated by different things to what management thought motivated them. Workers were more motivated by appreciation and the feeling of being "in on things" (Involved in the decision making processes of the organisation), than they were with money wheras management often based most of their staff motivation practices on very nearly the opposite. It just goes to show that it is wise to ask rather than assume! Managers need to provide the right organisational climate to ensure that their employees can see that by working towards the organisational goals they are also achieving some of their own goals. These goals could be such things as financial rewards or personal rewards such as the respect of their colleagues or job satisfaction or a combination of any number of things that the employee considers to be important. It is no good giving someone a pay rise if they are dissatisfied with the job and they do not see money as a very important factor in their working life. Yvonne McLaughlin suggests that there is an equation which gives a good model of the basic requirements and how they relate to each other in order to achieve the best staff performance in your organisation. Performance = Ability x Effort x Organisational support The performance of your organisation's staff is an equation of their ability to do the job (what they can do) multiplied by the effort that they are actually willing to put into the job multiplied by the amount that the organisation helps them to achieve their tasks. The job of a manager in the workplace is to get things done through employees. To do this the manager should be able to motivate employees. But that's easy said than done! Motivation practice and theory are difficult subjects, touching on several disciplines. In spite of enormous nature , basic as well as applied, the subject of motivation is not clearly understood and more often than not poorly practiced. To understand motivation one must understand human nature itself and there lies the problem! So in this discussion I will focus on the the needs theories, Cognitive theories and the Reinforcement theory whch are the tools the manager need. APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING MOTIVATION Theories are ways that we try to explain and understand complex and abstract issues and ideas. Abstract ideas are ideas like truth or love. They are very difficult to talk about because they are very hard to describe and define. They are not clear cut or concrete. Motivation is a fairly difficult area and there are a number of theories which have been developed to try to explain why people behave in the ways that they do and to try to predict or guess what people actually will do, based on these theories. Basically there are two general approaches to motivational theory. Content theories - what makes people tick. what turns them on or off. Process theories - how and by what goals people are motivated. CONTENT THEORIES These theories suggest that people have certain needs and/or desires which have been internalised . (This means that as we have grown up we have learned that these are things that we want and need and we come to believe it so strongly that we think that it is a natural thing to want these things.) These theories look at what it is about certain people that make them want the things that they do and what things in their environment will make them do or not do certain things. For example why would a person who was getting a lot of money for a job still be unhappy? Maybe there are other things which they consider to be more or equally important such as the work environment or the friendship and support of the people that they work with. We will look briefly at the following content theories: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, Theory Hertzberg's Two Factor Theory and ERG theory -- Existence, Relatedness, and Growth, Douglas McGregor -Theory X and Theory Y , Elton Mayo Hawthorne experiment, Chris Argyris - Increasing Interpersonal Competence , Rensis Likert - Management Systems and Styles and David C. McClelland: Achievement Motivation. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs Theory Abraham Maslow (1908 - 1970) developed a theory of motivation based on a hierarchy of needs. This is probably the most popular theory of management although the theory does have its critics.. Maslow suggested that there are five sets of goals which may be called basic needs. self-actualization esteem, and love, safety, physiological, These are: or self-fulfillment. He arranged these into a series of different levels or the order of importance of these basic needs. Man's basic needs are physiological, for example, hunger, thirst, sleep, etc. When these are satisfied they are replaced by safety needs reflecting his desire for protection against danger or deprivation. These in turn, when satisfied, are replaced by the need for love or belonging to, which are functions of man's gregariousness and his desire to belong to a group, to give and receive friendship and to associate happily with people. When these needs have been satisfied, there is the esteem needs, i.e. the desire for self-esteem and self-respect, which are affected by a person's standing reputation, and his need for recognition and appreciation. Finally, individuals have a need for self actualization or a desire for self-fulfillment, which is an urge by individuals for self-development, creativity and job satisfaction. The human hierarchy of needs proposed by Maslow are shown inFig 1. below. Fig 1.- Maslow's Hierarchy of needs. In the past, management reward systems have attempted to satisfy an individual's lower level needs for safety and physiological security, for protection against deprivation and the threat to a worker or his family. However, management reward systems are now, or should be, endeavoring to satisfy the individual's higher level needs for esteem and self-fulfillment. Frederick Herzberg - 2 Factor Hygiene and Motivation Theory Like Maslow Hertzberg believed that people had higher and lower levels of needs. Unlike Maslow who had five levels of needs Hertzberg has divided human needs Motivation The first part of the Hygiene Theory
into two categories. motivation theory involves the hygiene theory and includes the job environment. its policies and its the company, The hygiene factors include the kind of supervision which people receive while on the job,administration, status, and salary, interpersonal relations, working conditions security. These factors do not lead to motivations but without them there is dissatisfaction. The second part of the motivation theory involves what people recognition, achievement, actually do on the job. The motivators are interest in the job. These factors result fromgrowth / advancement and internal generators in employees, yielding motivation ...
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into two categories. motivation theory involves the hygiene theory and includes the job environment. its policies and its the company, The hygiene factors include the kind of supervision which people receive while on the job,administration, status, and salary, interpersonal relations, working conditions security. These factors do not lead to motivations but without them there is dissatisfaction. The second part of the motivation theory involves what people recognition, achievement, actually do on the job. The motivators are interest in the job. These factors result fromgrowth / advancement and internal generators in employees, yielding motivation rather than movement. Both these approaches (hygiene and motivation) must be done simultaneously. Treat people as best you can so they have a minimum of dissatisfaction. Use people so they get achievement, recognition for achievement, interest, and responsibility and they can grow and advance in their work. Therefore, the hygiene and Company policies andmotivation factors can be listed as follows: Hygiene Working conditions and interpersonal relations Supervision administration Recognition for Achievement Salary, status and security Motivators Growth Responsibility for enlarged task Interest in the task achievement and advancement to higher level tasks Effects on Individuals of Working Hygiene factors - Hygiene factors areEnvironment According to Frederick, the so called because they are seen to work like preventative medicine. They stop you from getting sick but do not really do anything to make you the healthiest that you can be, or better than you were. In a management context this means that hygiene factors don't motivate people to do their very best but they are Motivatingneeded to stop people becoming dissatisfied with their jobs. factors - factors within a job which allow for such things as achievement, responsibility, recognition, advancement, challenge. Hertzberg suggests that these factors are the ones which encourage people to strive to do well, in other words to motivate them to do their best. ERG theory -- Existence, Relatedness, and Growth. . Clayton Alderfer reworked Maslow's Need Hierarchy to align it more closely with empirical research. Alderfer's theory is called the ERG theory -- Existence refers to our concern withExistence, Relatedness, and Growth. . basic material existence requirements; what Maslow called physiological and Relatedness refers to the desire we have for maintainingsafety needs. interpersonal relationships; similar to Maslow's social/love need, and the Growth refers to an intrinsic desireexternal component of his esteem need. for personal development; the intrinsic component of Maslow's esteem need, and self-actualization . Alderfer's ERG theory differs from Maslow's Need Hierarchy insofar as ERG theory demonstrates that more than one need may be operative at the same time. ERG theory does not assume a rigid hierarchy where a lower need must be substantially satisfied before one can move on. Alderfer also deals with frustration-regression. That is, if a higher-order need is frustrated, an individual then seeks to increase the satisfaction of a lower-order need. This is consistent with Douglas MacGregor's observations in explaining his Theory X/Theory Y dichotomy: the inability to satisfy a need for social interaction might increase the desire for more money or better working conditions. ERG theory also accounts for differences in need preferences between cultures better than Maslow's Need Hierarchy. Douglas McGregor -Theory X and Theory Y Douglas McGregor in his book, "The Human Side of Enterprise" published in 1960 has examined theories on behavior of individuals at work, and he has formulated two models which he calls Theory X and Theory Y. Theory X Assumptions The average human being has an inherent dislike of work and will avoid it if he can. Because of their dislike for work, most people must be controlled and threatened The average human prefers to be directed,before they will work hard enough. dislikes responsibility, is unambiguous, and desires security above everything. These assumptions lie behind most organizational principles today, and give rise both to "tough" management with punishments and tight controls, and "soft" Both these are "wrong" because manmanagement which aims at harmony at work. needs more than financial rewards at work, he also needs some deeper higher Theory X managers doorder motivation - the opportunity to fulfill himself. not give their staff this opportunity so that the employees behave in the The expenditure of physical and mentalexpected fashion. Theory Y Assumptions Control and punishment are noteffort in work is as natural as play or rest. the only ways to make people work, man will direct himself if he is committed to If a job is satisfying, then the result will bethe aims of the organization. The average man learns, under propercommitment to the organization. Imagination,conditions, not only to accept but to seek responsibility. creativity, and ingenuity can be used to solve work problems by a large number Under the conditions of modern industrial life, the intellectualof employees. potentialities of the average man are only partially utilized. Comments on Theory X and Theory Y Assumptions These assumptions are based on social science research which has been carried out, and demonstrate the potential which is present in man and which organizations should recognize in order to become more effective. McGregor sees these two theories as two quite separate attitudes. Theory Y is difficult to put into practice on the shop floor in large mass production operations, but it can be used initially in the managing of managers and professionals. In "The Human Side of Enterprise" McGregor shows how Theory Y affects the management of promotions and salaries and the development of effective managers. McGregor also sees Theory Y as conducive to participative problem solving. It is part of the manager's job to exercise authority, and there are cases in which this is the only method of achieving the desired results because subordinates do not agree that the ends are desirable. However, in situations where it is possible to obtain commitment to objectives, it is better to explain the matter fully so that employees grasp the purpose of an action. They will then exert self-direction and control to do better work - quite possibly by better methods - than if they had simply been carrying out an order which the y did not fully understand. The situation in which employees can be consulted is one where the individuals are emotionally mature, and positively motivated towards their work; where the work is sufficiently responsible to allow for flexibility and where the employee can see his own position in the management hierarchy. If these conditions are present, managers will find that the participative approach to problem solving leads to much improved results compared with the alternative approach of handing out authoritarian orders. Once management becomes persuaded that it is under estimating the potential of its human resources, and accepts the knowledge given by social science researchers and displayed in Theory Y assumptions, then it can invest time, money and effort in developing improved applications of the theory. McGregor realizes that some of the theories he has put forward are unrealizable in practice, but wants managers to put into operation the basic assumption that: staff will contribute more to the organization if they are treated as responsible and valued employees. George Elton Mayo's Hawthorne Experiments Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. was in charge of certain Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. on human behavior carried out at the Hawthorne Works of the General Electric Company in Chicago between 1924 and 1927. His research findings have contributed to organization development in terms of human relations and motivation theory. Flowing from the Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. of these investigations The Work is a group activity. he came to certain conclusions as follows: The needsocial world of the adult is primarily patterned about work activity. for recognition, security and sense of belonging is more important in determining workers' morale and productivity than the physical conditions under A complaint is not necessarily an objective recital of facts;which he works. it is commonly a symptom manifesting disturbance of an individual's status The worker is a person whose attitudes and effectiveness areposition. conditioned by social demands from both inside and outside the work plant. Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. within the work plant exercise strong social controls over the work habits and attitudes of the individual worker. The change from an established society in the home to an adaptive society in the work plant resulting from the use of new techniques tends continually to disrupt Groupthe social organization of a work plant and industry generally. collaboration does not occur by accident; it must be planned and developed. If group collaboration is achieved the human relations within a work plant may reach a cohesion which resists the disrupting effects of adaptive society. Chris Argyris - Increasing Interpersonal Competence Even though management based on the assumptions of Theory X is perhaps no longer widely appropriate in the opinion of McGregor and others, it is still widely practiced. Consequently, a large majority of the people in the workplaces today are treated as immature human beings in their working environments. In attempting to analyze this situation, Chris Argyris, of Harvard University, compared bureaucratic / pyramidal values (the organizational counterpart to Theory X assumptions about people) that still dominate most organizations with a more humanistic / democratic value system (the organizational counterpart to Theory Y assumptions about people) as explained below. According to Argyris, following bureaucratic or pyramidal values leads to poor, shallow, and mistrustful relationships. Because these relationships do not permit the natural and free expression of feelings, they are phony or non-authentic and result in decreased interpersonal competence. "Without interpersonal competence or a 'psychologically safe' environment, the organization is a breeding ground for mistrust, intergroup conflict, rigidity, and so on, which in turn lead to a decrease in organizational success in problem solving." Bureaucratic/ Pyramidal Value System According to Argyris, following bureaucratic or pyramidal values leads to poor, shallow, and mistrustful relationships. Because these relationships do not permit the natural and free expression of feelings, they are phony or non-authentic and result in decreased interpersonal competence. "Without interpersonal competence or a 'psychologically safe' environment, the organization is a breeding ground for mistrust, intergroup conflict, rigidity, and so on, which in turn lead to a decrease in organizational success in problem solving." Humanistic / Democratic Value System If, on the other hand, humanistic or democratic values are adhered to in an organization, Argyris claims that trusting, authentic relationships will develop among people and will result in increased interpersonal competence, intergroup cooperation, flexibility, and the like and should result in increases in organizational effectiveness. In this kind of environment people are treated as human beings, both organizational members and the organization itself are given an opportunity to develop to the fullest potential, and there is an attempt to make work exciting and challenging. Implicit in "living" these values is "treating each human being as a person with a complex set of needs, all of which are important in her/ his work and in her/ his life... and providing opportunities for people in organizations to influence the way in which they relate to work, the organization, and the environment." Rensis Likert - Management Systems and Styles Dr. Rensis Likert has conducted much research on human behavior within organizations, particularly in the industrial situation. He has examined different types of organizations and leadership styles, and he asserts that to achieve maximum profitability, good labor relations and high productivity, every organization must make optimum use of their human assets. The form of the organization which will make greatest use of the human capacity, Likert highly effective work groups linked together in an overlappingcontends, is; pattern by other similarly effective groups. Organizations at present have widely varying types of management style and Likert has identified four main systems: 1. The exploitive - authoritative system, where decisions are imposed on subordinates, where motivation is characterized by threats, where high levels of management have great responsibilities but lower levels have virtually none, where there is very little communication and no joint teamwork. 2. The benevolent - authoritative system, where leadership is by a condescending form of master-servant trust, where motivation is mainly by rewards, where managerial personnel feel responsibility but lower levels do not, where there is little communication and relatively little teamwork. 3. The consultative system, where leadership is by superiors who have substantial but not complete trust in their subordinates, where motivation is by rewards and some involvement, where a high proportion of personnel, especially those at the higher levels feel responsibility for achieving organization goals, where there is some communication (both vertical and horizontal) and a moderate amount of teamwork. 4. The participative - group system, which is the optimum solution, where leadership is by superiors who have; complete confidence in their subordinates, where motivation is by economic rewards based on goals which have been set in participation, where personnel at all levels feel real responsibility for the organizational goals, where there is much communication, and a substantial amount of cooperative teamwork. Note that this fourth system is the one which is the ideal for the profit oriented and human-concerned organization, and Likert says that all organizations should adopt this system. Clearly, the changes involved may be painful and long-winded, but it is necessary if one is to achieve the maximum rewards for the organization. To convert an organization, four main features of effective management must be put into practice: Features The motivation to work must be fostered by modernof Effective Management principles and techniques, and not by the old system of rewards and threats. Employees must be seen as people who have their own needs, desires and values An organization ofand their self-worth must be maintained or enhanced. tightly knit and highly effective work groups must be built up which are Supportivecommitted to achieving the objectives of the organization. relationships must exist within each work group. These are characterized not by actual support, but by mutual respect. The work groups which form the nuclei of the participative group system, are characterized by the following features: Members are skilled in leadership and membership roles for easy interaction. The group has existed long enough to have developed a well established relaxed The members of the group are loyal to it and to eachworking relationship. The values and goals ofother since they have a high degree of mutual trust. Thethe group are an expression of the values and needs of its members. members perform a "linking-pin" function and try to keep the goals of the different groups to which they belong in harmony with each other. David C. McClelland: Achievement Motivation Over the years behavioral scientists have observed that some people have an intense need to achieve; others, perhaps the majority, do not seem to be as concerned about achievement. This phenomenon has fascinated David C. McClelland. For over twenty years he and his associates at Harvard University studied this urge to achieve. McClelland's research led him to believe that the need for achievement is a distinct human motive that can be distinguished from other needs. More important, the achievement motive can be isolated and assessed in any group. Characteristics of people with a high need for achievement McClelland illustrates some of these characteristics in describing a laboratory experiment. Participants were asked to throw rings over a peg from any distance they chose. Most people tended to throw at random—now close, now far away; but individuals with a high need for achievement seemed carefully to measure where they were most likely to get a sense of mastery—not too close to make the task ridiculously easy or too far away to make it impossible. They set moderately difficult but potentially achievable goals. In biology, this is known as the overload principle. In weight lifting, for example, strength cannot be in creased by tasks that can be performed easily or that cannot be performed without injury to the organism. Strength can be increased by lifting weights that are difficult but realistic enough to stretch the muscles. Do people with a high need for achievement behave like this all the time? McClelland maintains, only if they can influence the outcome. Achievement-motivated people are not gamblers. They prefer to work on a problem rather than leave the outcome to chance. With managers, setting moderately difficult but potentially achievable goals may be translated into an attitude toward risks. Many people tend to be extreme in their attitude toward risks, either favoring wild speculative gambling or minimizing their exposure to Gamblers seem to choose the big risk because the outcome is beyondlosses. their power and, therefore, they can easily rationalize away their personal The conservative individual chooses tiny risksresponsibility if they lose. where the gain is small but secure, perhaps because there is little danger of anything going wrong for which that person might be blamed. Achievement-motivated people take the middle ground, preferring a moderate degree of risk because they feel their efforts and abilities will probably influence the outcome. In business, this aggressive realism is the mark of the successful entrepreneur. Rewards and achievement-motivated people Another characteristic of achievement-motivated people is that they seem to be more concerned with personal achievement than with the rewards of success. They do not reject rewards, but the rewards are not as essential as the accomplishment itself. They get a bigger "kick" out of winning or solving a difficult problem than they get from any money or praise they receive. Money, to achievement-motivated people, is valuable primarily as a measurement of their performance. It provides them with a means of assessing their progress and comparing their achievements with those of other people. They normally do not seek money for status or economic security. Feedback A desire by people with a high need for achievement to seek situations in which they get concrete feedback on how well they are doing is closely related to this concern for personal accomplishment. Consequently, achievement-motivated people are often found in sales jobs or as owners and managers of their own businesses. In addition to concrete feedback, the nature of the feedback is important to achievement-motivated people. They respond favorably to information about their work. They are not interested in comments about their personal characteristics, Affiliation-motivated peoplesuch as how cooperative or helpful they are. Achievement-motivated people mightmight want social or attitudinal feedback. want job-relevant feedback. They want to know the score. Why do achievement-motivated people behave as they do? McClelland claims it is because they habitually spend time thinking about doing things better. In fact, he has found that wherever people start to think in achievement terms, things start to happen. Examples College students with a high need for achievement will generally get better grades than equally bright students with weaker achievement Achievement-motivated people tend to get more raises and are promotedneeds. faster because they are constantly trying to think of better ways of doing Companies with many such people grow faster and are more profitable.things. McClelland has even extended his analysis to countries where he related the presence of a large percentage of achievement-motivated individuals to the national economic growth. A taught skill? Can this motive, the need for achievement, be taught to people? McClelland was convinced that this can be done. In fact, he also developed training programs for business people that where designed to increase their achievement motivation. He also developed similar programs for other segments of the population. Achievement-motivated people Achievement-motivated people can be the backbone of most organizations, but what can be said about their potential as managers? As we know, people with a high need for achievement get ahead because as individuals they are producers they get things done. However, when they are promoted, when their success depends not only on their own work but on the activities of others, they may be less effective. Since they are highly job-oriented and work to their capacity, they tend to expect others to do the same. As a result, they sometimes lack the human skills and patience necessary for being effective managers of people who are competent but have a higher need for affiliation than they do. In this situation, their overemphasis on producing frustrates these people and prevents them from maximizing their own potential. Thus, while achievement-motivated people are needed in organizations, they do not always make the best managers unless they develop their human skills. Being a good producer is not sufficient to make an effective manager. McClelland has found that achievement-motivated people are more likely to be developed in families in which parents hold different expectations for their children than do other parents. More importantly, these parents expect their children to start showing some independence between the ages of six and eight, making choices and doing things without help, such as knowing the way around the neighborhood and taking care of themselves around the house. Other parents tend either to expect this too early, before children are ready, or to smother the development of the personality of these children. One extreme seems to foster passive, defeated attitudes as children feel unwanted at home and incompetent away from home. They are just not ready for that kind of independence so early. The other extreme yields either overprotected or over-disciplined children. These children become very dependent on their parents and find it difficult to break away and make their own decisions. The Herzberg link? McClelland's concept of achievement motivation is also related to Herzberg's motivation-hygiene theory. People with high achievement motivation tend to be interested in the motivators (the job itself). Achievement-motivated people want feedback. They want to know how well they are doing on their job. On the other hand, people with low achievement motivation are more concerned about the environment. They want to know how people feel about them rather than how well they are doing. Summary According to David C. McClelland's research, achievement-motivated people have certain characteristics the capacity to set high ('stretching') personal butin common, including; the concern for personal achievement rather than the rewardsobtainable goals, the desire for job-relevant feedback (how well am I doing?)of success, and rather than for attitudinal feedback (how well do you like me?). PROCESS THEORIES Process theories of motivation look at what people are thinking about when they decide whether or not to put effort into a particular activity. We will examine the equity , expectancy and the goal theories in this paper. Adam's Equity Theory Adam's argues that people are motivated by "inequity". That means that a person looks at others who are doing the same or similar jobs to them and compare how much effort that they put into the job and how much they are rewarded for their work. For example a person who was working very hard in a job may see a colleague who does not put in much effort at all has the same rewards of salary, prestige, promotion etc. This would probably be a negative motivator, discouraging that person from working so hard. There are, on the other hand, positive motivators where a person feels that they receive more than others in the same job and so feel that they are being rewarded for their efforts. This contemporary equity theory of motivation argues that a major input into job performance and satisfaction is the degree of equity (or inequity) that people perceive in their work situation (Luthans, 180). As a result, motivation is heavily impacted by things like cognitive dissonance and the exchange theory. The theory is congnitively based because it focuses on the thought processes and perceptions of the employee. Inequity occurs when an employee perceives his/her outcomes to inputs and the ratio of a coworker's outcomes to inputs to be unequal and can be schematically represented as follows: person's outcomes/person's inputs * other outcome's/other's inputs = inequality If the person's ratio is not perceived to be equal to the comparitive person's ration, he/she will strive to restore equity. The strife is considered employee motivation, and the greater the perceived inequity, the more motivated an employee becomes. It is important to note that equality or inequality is based on perception and is subjective. Discrimination is unequal treatment of individuals, and the equity theory of motivation would suggest that when we feel unequal, we become motivated to balance those ratios. This balancing can be accomplished by changing outcomes or inputs, cognitively distorting outcome's or inputs, leaving the field, and finally to act on or change the person whose ratio is greater than our own (Luthans, 181). Expectancy theory The process theory called the Porter-lawler model suggests that levels of motivation are based more on the value that individuals place on the reward. This theory proposes that motivation or effort is based on an individual's expectation (i.e., expectancy) that the effort will lead to a desired outcome, the individual's expectation that achieving the outcome will lead to a valued reward, and the value (i.e., valence) of the reward.The components that effect motivation then, are called valence (what's important to you) and expectancy (can I do it). Porter and Lawler suggest that perceived inequality in this model plays a pivotal role in job satisfaction. Our motivation, or effort leads to performance. Our performance is followed by intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. The perceived equity of those rewards leads to satisfaction. Discrmination in this model becomes relevant after performance. Our perceptions of equal or unequal rewards may cause us to be unsatisfied with the job, and less motivated to perform in the future (Luthans, 178). This is because the model is cyclical. If we are unsatisfied, we feel less motivated and less instrumental. As a result, effort and performance decrease. It becomes particularly critical then, for an organization to evaluate its rewards system. An employee's perception of inequaltiy could be disasterous to a company! The Equity Theory and Porter-Lawler Model are only two motivational theories that demonstrate the importance of avoiding discriminatory practices in the workplace. It is imperative that employees receive equal treatment on the job. Though discrimination today is subtle, it continues to be problematic. If we continue to act preferentially, employee motivation will be adversely affected, and eventually performance will cease. By participating in such practices, we are steadily building the foundation for disaster. Goal-Setting Theory The final cognitive theory mentioned in this paper is the goal setting theory. While I don't doubt the value of equity theories and expectancy, goal setting theory is a motivation theory that works and is easy to apply. The basic suggestion in this theory is that people are motivated by specific, challenging goals. Goals tell us what is important (i.e., directs our attention). are a source of motivation. act as a benchmark of performance. Research has concluded that challenging goals lead to higher performance. specific goals are better than general goals (that is, it is not enough to tell a person to "do your best"). feedback improves the effect of goals on performance. This theory is similar to expectancy theory idea of expectancies. Goal setting research has found that a goal that is perceived to be difficult, but attainable (i.e., high expectancy), will be a source of motivation, but a goal that is perceived to be impossible (i.e., low expectancy) will lead to low motivation. On this point the two theories agree. A major benefit of this method is that it allows a supervisor to take a "hands-off" approach to motivating and managing a subordinate. By giving a person a challenging goal to accomplish a task, the supervisor does not need to worry about motivating the person minute-by-minute or telling them how to accomplish every step of the task. Research has found that people who are given specific, challenging goals will often develop their own strategy for accomplishing the goal and will maintain motivation in pursuit of the goal. They do not need anyone to look over their shoulder or hold their hand while they work toward the goal. Reinforcement Theory Reinforcement theory is not a cognitive theory of motivation because the theory assumes that thinking is not a part of motivation. People who follow this approach do not doubt that people think. They just believe that thinking is not required for motivation. This point has some validity. Think about many of the tasks we perform every day: driving a car, shuffling paper on our desk, ordering supplies, buying a latte at the espresso stand, brushing our teeth, etc. These are routine behaviors that are performed in an automatic fashion. It does not appear that we perform an elaborate mental evaluation every time we carry out these behaviors. Reinforcement theory offers suggestions about the reasons why we perform these behaviors. The basic assumption of this theory is that our behavior is determined by the consequences of our actions. Think about a new born baby who has been placed in a strange crib on the first night of its life. The baby's first reaction is to cry. As a result, the concerned parents rush to the baby's room to pick it up and give it comfort. Eventually the baby falls asleep in the arms of its mother or father. This ritual goes on for days and weeks and months. The parents can't figure out why the baby can't go to sleep by itself. Reinforcement theory would suggest that through the parents' actions (i.e., picking the baby up when it cries), the baby has learned that crying leads to mommy or daddy picking them up, and as a result, every time the baby is placed in the crib (the stimulus) the baby will cry (the behavior), which leads to comfort from the parents (the positive consequence). The consequence reinforces the behavior, so the behavior continues. If the parents had not picked the child up on the first night and the following few nights, the baby may have learned that the crying does not lead to positive consequences, so the behavior would not be repeated. Conclusion. Under normal circumstances a hungry person will seek food, a thirsty person will seek water, a person under threat will seek protection, and a person with sexual need will seek satisfaction. The greater the need, the more intense the preoccupation with gratification, and the greater the likelihood of feelings of anxiety. In order to minimise the unpleasantness associated with anxiety man has learned to exercise as much control as possible over his environment. For example, he learned to farm, he damned rivers, he built castles, he took a partner. Once some measure of constancy for his physiological needs had been established man was able to look to his psychological needs. These needs strive for satisfaction just as persistently as the physiological ones and frustration of them can lead to a feeling of emptiness, a lack of direction, or feeling there is a loss of purpose in life. The brain gives humans he capacity to learn and it operates best when put to regular use. The pleasure associated with the learning process is not easy to define but it is a valid phenomenon that leads to a state of psychological satisfaction. The specific act of learning needed to achieve this state is determined individually as experiences and resources dictate available options. Thus, one person may develop a need to achieve highly in the field of mathematics while another will be satisfied by being able to maintain a productive vegetable garden. Just as frustration of physiological needs causes anxiety, so it is with psychological needs. Inadequate or inappropriate utilisation of intellectual capacity causes anxiety and, therefore, it is always important to pay attention to individual requirements when setting tasks and planning careers. Johnnie (2000) said an organisation cannot improve employee motivation to work or increase job satisfaction until it discovers what needs are currently important to each employee. Individual requirements are determined by mental and physical ability and areas of interest. It is no secret or surprise that people work best and hardest at jobs that interest them. Although there will always be a need for society to direct some people into particular occupations to ensure its survival and for protection of the community, there are flow-on benefits from encouraging participation in a wide range of leisure activities that make few direct contributions to society. My final point is simply to suggest that the above paper be re-read look at motivation as the direction of people's interest, the amount of effort they give in that direction, and the amount of time they will persist at that effort level. Taking this MBA degree courses is a perfect example of this idea. To complete this course you must direct some of your effort toward completing it. This assumes that you will need to direct your effort away from other possible targets, such as time with your family, reading the newspaper, watching television, or pursuing your hobbies. Understanding what affects an individual is useful in work settings where managers attempt to motivate employees to maintain or achieve high levels of performance. It helps determine targets for potential effort, the level of effort individuals will offer, and the amount of time they will persist at that level. It also has implications for decreasing turnover and absenteeism, increasing job satisfaction, and increasing the amount of citizenship behavior individually. Bibliography Berkowitz, L. (1965). "The concept of aggressive drive". New York: Academic Press Herzberg, F. (1959) The motivation to work, willy. Johnnie,P.B. (1988a) Motivating the Nigerian worker. A study of Two Public Sector Organisations. Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 4 No.2 Oloko, O. (1977) "Incentives and Reward for Effort" Management in Nigeria Vol.15 No.5. Vroom, V. H. (1964) Work and Motivation. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Word Count: 7100