“Throughout the twentieth century, there has been much written by social scientists on the subject of motivation. The theories that have emerged are many and varied, and often conflicting if not contradictory” (Hume, 1995). Several names are prominent; Maslow and Herzberg associated primarily with content theories, and Vroom and Locke who focused mainly on the process theories. Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of needs theory’ is perhaps the most widely known content theory. It attempts to show how people are wanting beings whose need guides behaviour. According to Maslow, a need influences a person’s activity until it has been satisfied. Further, his theory holds that an individuals needs are arranged in a hierarchical fashion, from the very fundamental (e.g. Food) to the most advanced (i.e. Self - fulfillment).
“According to Maslow individuals move up the needs hierarchy through a dynamic cycle of deprivation, gratification and activation” (Steers & Black, 1994). That is, when the individual experiences deprivation (i.e. an unfulfilled need) at a particular level in the hierarchy, the unsatisfied need will direct the individuals thoughts and actions. However once this need is met or gratified it will cease to dominate the person’s consciousness and needs at the next level will be activated.
There are a number of problems for managers when trying to maintain and achieve performance from employees. They should bear in mind that different persons may display different needs or the same person may display different needs at different times or in different situations. These differences are relevant in designing job or reward systems as well as in selection and training. Recognising the importance of the higher order needs for the employee is fundamental and managers should try and focus on these but at the same time remembering that each individual has a different calculus (the mechanism by which we decide how much effort / energy to expend on an activity).
One way for managers to identify individuals needs is to hold a number of appraisals / interim’s throughout the year. Feedback to employees whether good or bad tends to bring about high confidence and thus performance will improve. Little feedback tends to produce frustration. “To use an analogy, the golfer who does not count his shots is only their for the walk. Without knowledge of the score the motivation calculus will soon dry up” (Handy. P, 44)
Direct Line Insurance is the company I work for on a part-time basis. Most of the staff employed on an evening are primarily students. Management has recognised certain needs that they feel are specific to students i.e., flexible working hours, casual clothes wear and subsidized catering. The staff are paid with a basic wage and by using the concept of performance related remuneration, whereby an employee is rewarded for every home insurance policy they sell. Although this is essentially an extrinsic reward, which is relatively easy to satisfy, a student’s main need / goal is monetary reward. It may be true to say that some students needs at this stage in their life may start and cease at the physiological / safety stage of Maslow’s hierarchy.
Herzberg’s motivation - hygiene theory was different to Maslow’s as it was based on empirical data derived from interviews with engineers and accountants. Herzberg asked them to relate times when they felt exceptionally good or exceptionally bad about their present / previous job. On the basis of the responses Herzberg developed his influential ‘ two-factor theory of motivation’. Firstly, hygiene factors relating to the context of the job are essentially extrinsic i.e. salary, company policy and working conditions. Secondly motivating factors relate to the content of the job and are mainly intrinsic including such variables as achievement, recognition, responsibility, advancement and growth. Proper attention to the hygiene factors will tend to prevent dissatisfaction but does not by itself create a positive attitude. To motivate workers and thus improve performance managers must focus on the motivators. The work of Herzberg indicates that it is more likely good performance leads to job satisfaction rather than the reverse. Herzberg specified three ways in which managers could help motivate staff and thus maintain and achieve a high level of performance. The first of these is job rotation, where employee’s exchange jobs periodically to break the monotony, providing them with new skills and a fresh challenge. Second is job enlargement, where there is an increase in the number of operations, which an employee performs. Managers must recognise that the new task must be testing to the individual otherwise it becomes tedious. Organisations are trying to redesign certain jobs incorporating more responsibility, allowing employees greater access to information and greater discretion within their work. This is commonly referred to as job enrichment.
‘The content theories give managers an understanding of the particular work related factors that start the motivational process. These theories however provide little understanding of why people choose a certain behaviour to accomplish task related goals. This aspect of choice is the focus of process theories’ (Microsoft internet explorer). Two of the best-known process theories are the expectancy and goal theory.
Expectancy theories formulated initially by Tolman and later revised by Vroom, Porter and Lawler, suggested that the behaviour of an individual is not based on their needs but is determined by the presence of goals and the probability or expectancy that their behaviour will lead to the achievement of these goals. Vroom developed the expectancy theory, recognising the essential components to be valence, Instrumentality, and expectancy. Unless the individual believes that his efforts will lead to some desired level of performance and that level of performance will lead to desired rewards, the employee will not be motivated to expend any effort. Vroom used the notion of ‘subjective probability’ since it is only an ‘expectation’ dependant upon the individuals perception of the probable relationship that exists between the behaviour and the outcome.
Expectancy theory indicates that managers should give attention to a number of factors when trying to maintain and achieve performance. Rewards should be used that are appropriate in terms of individual performance, the incentives for higher performance should be outcomes of high value for those concerned. Management must attempt to establish a clear relationship between effort - performance and rewards as perceived by the individual. If an employee thinks he will receive a reward irrespective of how much effort he expends, then he will not be as productive. One other important factor for managers to consider is to try and avoid or minimise undesirable outcomes which may stem from a high-level of performance such as accidents, group sanctions and lay - offs. Undesirable outcomes will affect the productivity of the organisation over the long - term, as replacement staff will be drafted in who may not perform to the ability of the previous employee.
Edwin Locke in the 1960’s proposed that the intention to work towards a goal is a major source of work motivation. The goal setting theory holds that specific and difficult goals lead to higher performance. People strive to achieve goals in order to satisfy their emotions and desires, which is why people respond and act in certain ways. Thomas Edison had a goal to invent the light bulb. After two thousand attempts, many people said he should give up, as it obviously wasn’t possible. Edison claimed that he hadn’t failed two thousand times, just simply found two thousand ways that didn’t work. After three thousand and one attempts the light bulb was created. This is a good example of an individual setting himself a goal and striving to achieve it. Employees with specific goals such as a deadline for the completion of a task will perform better than people with no set goal or only a vague goal such as ‘do the best you can’. ‘To make goal-setting operational, Peter Drucker proposed ‘management by objectives’ which can be defined as a program that encompasses specific goals, participatively set, for an explicit time period, with feedback on goal process’. (Microsoft internet explorer). This may include systematically identifying performance goals to help direct behaviour, maintain motivation and ‘achieve performance’. Managers must also assign specified goals at challenging but realistic levels, along with accurate and timely feedback. Difficult goals do lead to higher performance however a goal that is set at to high a level and regarded as impossible to achieve will minimise the effectiveness of the employee. Managers may increase performance from employees by letting them participate in the actual setting of the goals. Goals set by management will only be accepted when it is felt that one’s own views were considered within that decision making process.
To conclude, we can see that there has been a rapid turnover of theories for motivation at work. Each theory has a certain validity with their usefulness lying in the fact that they provide a framework, within which to direct attention to the problem of how best to motivate staff. Motivation is a very powerful tool for managers, the theories simply help to guide management when choosing certain techniques. The success management has in improving performance from their employee’s lies heavily on the transformation of these theories into practice.
BIBLIOGRAPHY / RESOURCES.
Hume D.A Reward Management. Blackwell publishers, 1995
Denny R. Motivate to Win. Kogan, 1993
Steers M. Motivation & Leadership Mcgraw – hill, 1996
At work.
Gallagher K. People in Organisations. Blackwell publishers, 1997
Mullins J.L. Management & Pitman Publishing, 1996
Organisational behaviour.
Microsoft Internet Explorer WWW. Go 2 Net.Com; Motivation & performance.
