HR assignment report on: Theories of motivation 

Executive Summary

The main idea behind this report to understand the prime theories of motivation in an organization which includes Maslow’s Theory, McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y and Herzberg’s Two factor theory. The research explains the details of these theories along with their research methodologies applied ant criticisms.

The research starts with a brief introduction of motivation and its requirement in an organization and then explains the three important theories of motivation and their criticisms. Maslow’s need hierarchy theory explains the five level of need requirement of an individual. Maslow’s theory is based on the different needs of different people, and their motivational needs are also different.

Herzberg’s two factor theory is based on hygiene and motivational factors. As per Herzberg et.al hygiene factors are extrinsic factors which are the basic needs of employees and motivational factors are intrinsic factors. Herzberg and his team applied random data collection approach of 250 employees, and is considered to be the replica of Maslow’s need hierarchy theory with a narrow scope. But this theory formed the foundation for many important theories of human resource. McGregor Theory X and Theory Y, is based on assumptions to treat employees by applying theory X or Theory Y but McGregor was always in favour of application of Theory y.

The research with the help of predetermined theories in the past tries to analyse and understand the motivational theories and their application in an organization.

INTRODUCTION

Motivation is one of the most challenging tasks faced by managers today. Motivation is process of bringing out the best in the employees by inspiring them to do their best. Every manager wants to have the best performing employees in their organisation and this can come only from motivated employess.Motivated employees are more dedicated toward their work and their organsiantion.It’s a challenge because it’s not so easy to motivate employees. Motivate is an internal emotion which comes from attitudes, behaviour and thinking (Bandura, 1977) .Mangers need to understand how they can motivate their employees and create a favourable work environment so that employees are motivated and   they contribute effectively for the success of their organisation.

There are various techniques to motivate employs like:

Set the goals and the standards for employees that will help to measure their performance (Bandura, 1977),

Create a healthy work environment which motivates employees (Bandura, 1977),

Reward employee for their good performance and appreciate them (Eisenberger, 1999),

Have open communication in the system (Bandura, 1977).

The motivational techniques used by Mangers depend on which motivational theory they are implementing and how they are implementing in their organisation (Wright & Kacmar, 1995).

There are there main motivational theories:

Maslow theory– Maslow theory of motivation says that need of human beings is various.

A) Physiological needs i.e.food, water, clothing shelter which is the necessary requirements for survival.

B) Safety needs-Safety needs means financial safety, personal security, family security, health and individual safety which provide comfort to individuals and insure them a safe future

C) Love and belonging-This is the interpersonal need an the feeling of belongings that employs need .Love, care, co operation motivate employees to perform in a better way

D)Self esteem-Self esteem is the desire of human being to be respected by individuals ,being values by other and have their self respect in the society they are living.Thsi is need for recognition,status,fame and glory which every human being desire

E) Self actualisation-These needs are the ultimate needs which motivate employee achieve something they have always dreamt of. This is a need and desire to become more and achieve more.

McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y

McGregor’s theory sets there are two types of individuals in organisation:

Theory X employees are those who are less dedicated toward their work ,such people dislike work, and always want to avoid the work in any possible way anytime Such people lack ambition cannot take responsibility and have no goals and objectives in life. Such employees are motivated by the managers by using the policy of coercion, punishment and controlling programs. Strict action are taken to persuade them to give better performance

Theory Y employee are those who are dedicated toward their work and like to give to give their best in order to achieve their objectives as well as the organisational objectives. They have certain goals and dais and they take responsibility which makes them a goof performer. Such employees are motivated by rewarding them for their beat performance and giving them incentives and appreciation, as well as creating a favourable working environment for them where they can show their creativity.

Hertzberg’s Theory

Hertzberg theory of motivation says that there are factors which are motivational factors in the organisation and there are some factors which motivate employees and prevent dissatisfaction. According to him there are-Hygiene factors and Motivator factors

Hygiene factors include pay, benefits, compensation, fringe benefits, company policies, job security, status and the working environment, which if absent in organisation may lead to dissatisfaction among employees

Motivator factors are based on individual wants, need sand his need for growth, this include sense of achivenmnt, recognition and self esteem, growth opportunities, challenging and interesting work. If these are defective, they can motivate employee to give above average performance in the organisation.

So we can s that each of the relevant motivational theory act as a guide for the managers and using this Managers can decide what motivational technique they can use for their employee depending on type of employee and the satiation too.

So in the furthest discussion I have taken the Maslow theory of motivation which I think is the most relevant for organisational growth

MASLOW THEORY

Maslow theory of motivation focuses on all the need of an individual which are desired by every human being. The needs of an individual are diversified and varying from individual to individual but there are basic needs which are desired by all.

Source:  Lint (2011). “Maslow’s Theory of Basic Needs and learning”, available on: http://thesocialworkexam.com/maslows-theory-of-basic-needs-learning.

Maslow has arranged the needs of individual in the form of pyramid which consists of:

• Physiological needs
• Safety and Security
• Social needs
• Self Esteem
• Self actualization

Physiological needs-These are the basic need of individual leek food, clothing a shelter which re required by every human being for their survival (Maslow, 1943). These needs cannot be ignore day any individual and if these re not fulfilled anyone cannot work. For e.g. an employee does not get so much salary which satisfies his basic need, he will work harder in order to achieve these needs or may be will look for a better opportunity which will fulfil theses needs of him. This act as motivational factor because one cannot survive without these basic needs. There are other needs like self esteem and security which cannot be fulfilled if does not full his basic needs of life. Manager has to realize that how can he motivate his employees so that they can achieve their basic necessaties.Mangers should understand that they should pay so much salary to their employee which will fulfil their basic need for surviaval.Appropriare lunch breaks and eating opportunities should be provided, so that are physically and mentally fit to work.Thre should be concept of fair wage which will actually fulfil these need of employees. No one can postpone these need snag fulfilling these biological need must be the priority for the managers. They should try to identify if these are fulfilled or not for the entire employee sand if not immediate action should be taken.

Safety and Security needs

Safety needs includes the physical, emotional and environmental safety and security. These are the needs for protection. For egg financial safety so that one spend a safe and helathylliving financially, environmental safety i.e. there are hazards or may be work place hazards, Job security i.e. one have a stable career and there is no fear of loosing job any time. These needs Rae connected to the psychological fear of loosing the job, or may be ones properly or a natural or environmental hazard. Every employee wants that there should be proper laws, rights which will provide him security in different situation. There should not be any work place hazard and a safe working environment is provided to him. They need protection from physical dangers like fire,flood,earthqauke etc.Finnacial security is one f the most important safety need as everybody think that they should have a future where they can live happily even if they are not working and so there come the need for pension, old age schemes, insurance cover. These needs come after the physiolocla needs and they act as motivational force if they are not satisfied. Mangers must see that these safety needs are fulfilled for employees and they feel safe and secure in the organisation they are organisation. If an employee is not assured that he is physical and financial safe in the organisation, he will not be motivated to contribute to the growth of organisation.

Social needs

Social needs are the need for love care and belonglinees.Every employee needs that to be treated as social animal because nobody can survive alone in this world. Social need is the most important need of the human being to make the life effective and efficient while the whole day of work and so tight routine through the day. There should be environment of love and co operation in the oragnsiation and this can be increased by team work in the organisation, where each gets a chance to interact, and everyone is accepted in the organisation with love and care. If an employee does not get an environment where he is not supported by his peers, seniors, his loose interest in his work, and this affect the whole organisation productivity. Managers must see that employees need to have some refreshment and affection to get them motivated and encourage them to move ahead and to get positivity within themself. Group activities and interactions make employees more effective and refreshed and in this way we can get relaxed and can regain their energy to again rework with the same or even more efficiency. It is a kind of motivation for the betterment in the doings and the thinking. It makes the whole day more effective this will surely result in better output and helps in achieving the goal of our life. Every employee needs this for the competitiveness and the motivation within self. Good and conducive work environment leads to better productivity.

Self esteem needs

Self esteem needs are of two types:

Internal esteem needs and the external esteem needs;

These two are the basic needs of individual which every individual want to fulfil

Internal esteem consist of copmpetence, sense of achievement, freedom, confidence and self respect

External needs are the need for power, status, recognition, and admiration.

These needs specify that every individual want to be respected, and appreciated for their work, they can have a prestigious and recognizable position in their workplace and have status for themselves where they are identified for their work (Maslow, 1943). Once the security and social needs are fulfilled an individual think that he should be appreciated for the work he is doing and this comes from the thirst of reputation and recognition. This is a sort of personal ego which needs to be staifiedfor survival. Such needs acts as motivational force if they are timely recognized by mangers and utilized effectively. Every employee must be appreciated for tee piece of work he is doing .this will boost up his morale, confidence, satisfy his elf esteem and he will be motivated to work more effectively. Once an employee is appraised for the work he is doing, he thinks to work more effectively so that he can receive more incentives, and thus this will satisfy his financial needsThsi will also give him the feeling of sense of belongings and increase his commitment toward the oragnsiation.Self esteem does not come into action until previous needs are not satisfied

Self actualisation Needs

Self actualisation is the highest needs of the individuals.These needs are the ones which state that every individual needs to achieve the ultimate needs of his life for his growth. These are needs which every individual think of becoming and achieving in his life. A persona after achieving and fulfilling his previous thinks of achieving these needs, a feeling of achieving more and more. He feels that he should he should achieve everything in life, after he has gained enough money, have built his status and reputation in his life. His urge to achieve more in his life increases, and he thinks that he should achieve more and more. He may want to renege himself in social service, other creative work and become aesthetic, Such need motivate an individual to contribute more effectively to ward the organizational growth because an individuals urge to gain more motivate him to work harder and become dedicated. This may also contribute to the development of society apart from the organsiation.some people get involve din Ngo helped the poor and needy. But these are never satisfied at once because these are aesthetic need and keeps on increasing and increasing. Because opportunities keep on individual and when one opportunity goes, another one comes up, so such needs are never satisfied completely as these are the needs for individual growth and contentment (Maslow, 1943).

Weakness of Maslow Theory

Maslow theory is very popular among all organization, and provides guidelines to the management for effective decagons making. But Maslow theory itself ahs many limitations

1) It focuses on the individual need s, but there is lack of cause and effect relationship between individual need and his berahviour.It cannot be actually derived why such behaviour take place like which need is motivating him to work harder.

2) The theory does not considers other factors like experience, expectations, and individual perception which shoal betaken into consideration

3) Every employee has different need and desires and the hirecahy stated by Maslow may not be relevant to all uniformly. The hierarchy is not uniform for all. Some employees do not have the self actualisation needs; they are satisfied by their safety, social and physiological needs. So the pattern of hierarchy is not same for all individuals

4) Maslow not include all the needs of individuals and some needs remain untouched by this Maslow hierarchy pattern

5) There is no empire evidence to support to Maslow need theory. It is untested and largely tentative so it is just a simple philosophical theory rather than been scientific.

So we can say the Maslow theory of need has some positive points and some negative points

Herzberg’s Theory

Hertzberg theory of motivation says that there are factors which are motivational factors in the organisation and there are some factors which motivate employees and prevent dissatisfaction. According to him there are-Hygiene factors and Motivator factors

Hygiene factors include pay, benefits, compensation, fringe benefits, company policies, job security, status and the working environment, which if absent in organisation may lead to dissatisfaction among employees

Motivator factors are based on individual wants, need sand his need for growth, this include sense of achievement, recognition and self esteem, growth opportunities, challenging and interesting work. If these are defective, they can motivate employee to give above average performance in the organisation.

Herzberg’s two factor theory of motivation got published in the year 1959, though was most controversial theory of those times and was considered to be the replicated theory but became the foundation for many key theories of human resource development and organizational behavior (Stello n.d). as per Herzberg’s theory the the job satisfaction or dissatisfaction of employees is based on two factors, that is job satisfaction is influenced by the motivator factors where as job dissatisfaction by hygiene factors. The hygiene factors included: working conditions, relations with co-workers, supervisor, rules and policies of the company, basic salay and wages whereas the motivator bfactor included achievement, responsibilty, recognition, work, growth etc (Raghuwanshi 2008). Herzberg categorized hygiene factors as extrinsic factors and motivator factors as intrinsic factors to employees. As per his theory of motivation the hygiene factors do not motivate the employees but their absence would lead to job disatisfaction and motivator factors are intrinsic in nature and their presence have positive impacts on the job satisfaction and output and also motivates the employees (Herzberg et. al 1959). The two factors of Herzberg’s theory are explaine below:

Source: Wilf H. Ratzburg, (nd). “Herzberg’s Two Factor Theory”. Available from: http://www.reocities.com/Athens/Forum/1650/htmlherzberg.html

Hygiene factors:

The hygiene factors in the Herzberg’s theory are also considered as the maintenance factors in the organization and involve physiological, safety and love needs from Maslow’s hierarchy of lower level needs. These factors are not directly related to the job but are related to the environment and the working conditions surrounding the job. These factors when are not present in the organization dissatisfies the employees but however, their presence does not develops strong motivation in employees Gibson (2000). The hygiene factors of Herzberg’s theory include; company’s rules and policies, administration, supervision, interpersonal relationships with subordinates, with supervisor, with peers, salary, incentives, working environment, job security, personal life, and status (Baah and Amoako, 2011). Herzberg categorized these variables as hygiene factors because they are essential to sustain a minimum level of satisfaction but their absence can also cause dissatisfaction among employees. According to him these factors are not motivators but are required to avoid dissatisfaction in employees, Huling (2003).

Motivational factors:

The motivators for employees according to Herzberg, pertaining to the job, are intrinsic to the job itself. It involves the physiological need for growth and development, recognition, responsibilities, achievements, and job itself. Herzberg mentioned that the absence of these motivator factors does not results in dissatisfying the employees but their presence develops a strong levels of motivation in employees and results into good work performance. The Herzberg motivators are also known to be satisfier’s motivators, which includes; responsibilities achievements, recognition, growth and advancement etc (Baah and Amoako, 2011).

Critical Analysis of the theory

As per various management experts the Herzberg’s theory has limited scope and does not hold good in all conditions. As the research was done on only 200 employees who were either accountants or engineers (Raghuwanshi 2008). So the scope was limited to engineeers and accountants and also the theory asseses that the extrinsic factors and intrinsic factors exists separately. But both the factors goes hand in hand. According to Herzberg absence of extrinsic factors does not have any impact on the motivation levels of employees, but increase in salary or wages or interpersonal relationaships are considered to be great motivators (Raghuwanshi 2008).  The theory is also seen as replica of Maslows model, where the hygiene factors of Herzberg’s are similar to the lower level need of Maslow’s and motivation factors were equivalent to higher level needs in Maslow’s theory. (Jones and Loyld, 2005).

 McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y

McGregor’s theory sets there are two types of individuals in organisation:

Theory X employees are those who are less dedicated toward their work ,such people dislike work, and always want to avoid the work in any possible way anytime Such people lack ambition cannot take responsibility and have no goals and objectives in life. Such employees are motivated by the managers by using the policy of coercion, punishment and controlling programs. Strict action are taken to persuade them to give better performance

Theory Y employee are those who are dedicated toward their work and like to give to give their best in order to achieve their objectives as well as the organisational objectives. They have certain goals and dais and they take responsibility which makes them a goof performer. Such employees are motivated by rewarding them for their beat performance and giving them incentives and appreciation, as well as creating a favourable working environment for them where they can show their creativity.

Source: “Douglas McGregor Theory X and Theory Y”, available from: http://www.vectorstudy.com/management_theories/theory_X_and_Y.htm

Application of the theory:

The theory gives simple and salutary reminder of the normal rules of managing people, which are generally forgotten in the routine activities. The theory explains two fundamental approaches of managing people. And its been observed that the mangers using theory Y gets better results than those applying theory X.

Assumptions of:

Theory X

• An average employee doesn’t like to work and tries to avoid it.
• So people are forced to work, by threatening or punishing in order to achieve the organizational goals.
• An employee needs to direction as the avoid responsibilities and are unambitious and requires security above all.

Theory Y:

• Employees naturally put their efforts.
• Employees are self controlled and self directed towards achieving the organisational objectives.
• Commitment
• People seek and accept responsibilities
• And McGregor felt that in the industry the actual potential of the employees is only partly utilised.

Outcomes of

Theory X:

• Work becomes means to an end
• Reinforces rigid lines of responsibility and authority
• Managers who assumes Theory X gets Theory X.

Criticism of Theory X and Theory Y

Though Douglas theory of motivation gave a perspective to managers to understand each employee as an individual and then apply required strategy of motivation. Douglas believed that employees are not machines and each individual has their own complexities. Even though his theory was accepted by many organizations but is being criticised too for the following reasons:

• The theory is on the same lines of Maslow’s need hierarchy
• The theory X and theory Y are found insufficient in accounting all conditions
• As per Nathan Harter, Theory X managers are not necessarily be inhuman
• Theory X suffers from diseconomies of scale
• Management is required to work hard on the supervision of Theory X employees
• The assumption of Theory Y, creating a right environment for all, is impossible, as each employee is different and so are their motivational requirements.

Conclusion

Individual needs are not defined and it increases but it never decareses, so mangers need to identify how these needs of human being has to be identified, and then used to motivate the employees so that they can contribute to the growth of the oragnsiation.Employees are not motivated only by their unsatisfied needs but sometime the satisfied need also creates an urge to satisfy the unsatisfied ones (Jessup & Stahelski, 1999). So Manger must understand how they can motivate their employees. Concept of merit pay grid can be introduced. Compensation includes not only the monetary part but also the pay, benefits, leaves, incentives and other services (Deci, 1972). It includes the tangible as well as intangible benefits. An intangible benefit includes the insurance, paid leave, sick leaves, insurance, and employee discounts and all these are an important component for motivating any employee. Merit pay grades are the source of positive motivational factor in any organization because it motivates employees to work harder and become more effective and efficient. Any employee will led an extra effort towards his work only if he receives something extra apart from his basic pay. Pay system should always be based on merit because it will also motivate the less productive employee to work harder. System in which pay is not based on merit sees more of employees exit because they are not rewarded for being more productive resource of the company. Once an employee has worked long enough in a company he will see for his advancement which may be in his salary, promotions, and other intangible services.Regualr training program should be introduced which will increase the belonglinees of an employee toward his organisation (Eisenberger, 1999). Performance is the end result for any organization which they expect from all the employees. Training helps in continuous improving their criteria for the betterment of product quality and category and the services too. If employees about the new safety norms, then only they can perform to the best of their ability. All organizations are very much innovative and devoted towards the human resource development. They believe in employee motivation and development in an integrated and efficient manner. Training is required to inform the employee of new rules, norms and regulation which are brought about in the organization according to new innovation (Cullen, 1997). Managers must provide the right opportunity and challenge sot employees so that they can sue their potential and realise their growth together with the growth of the organisation.

So Managers must understand the potential of their employees and the different need pattern of employees .This will help to decide the right financial and nonfinancial motivation and then manager can decide accordingly how he can motivate employees for the growth of organisation .This will ultimately help to increase the productivity and profitability of the organization.

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