Theories of Motivation

There are many more or less effective motivation theories. All of them are analyzed, verified and implemented if they are proven to have real life effects on increase of labor productivity. However, the aim of the current paper is to address the main aspects of few theories of employee encouragement. Three of them argue that the need defines the behavior and the motivation whereas others state that the need itself is not a strong motivation. The supporters of the third block of theories claim that self-regulation should be behind any motivation theory.

Motivated employees are the fore stone of the successful business. It is the most influential element impacting organizational efficiency. All the efforts made go to waste in case the subordinates show high percent of reluctance to work. Therefore, the company managers should elaborate the ways of encouraging employees to work better, faster and more productively than yesterday. Motivation in the workplace has a lot of functions, which can be narrowed down to the three most important ones. First and foremost, motivation energizes the employees. It fills them up with the necessary power and force to show the results at some level of efforts. Secondly, it directs the employees, indicating the direction, or a particular way, usually the shortest one, towards the reaching of certain previously set objectives. The motivation in industrial psychology is considered to be a feeling that could maintain employee's ability to work at high level during the considerable periods. Speaking about thinking, one should remember that any cognitive process is affected by motivation as well. It is the motivation that stands behind the choices one makes regarding the things one needs to pay attention to or the overall effectiveness of the learning that one wants to achieve in the end. The learners who are motivated are usually more persistent in their endeavors to understand the material and to learn it more deeply

Needless to say, motivating the employees to show better job performance rates or encouraging them to change might sometimes be quite challenging for any company. In order to address the needs in certain guidance as how to determine the cause of low motivation and how to influence it, the theorists have introduced a few hypotheses that explain the reasons behind low rates of employees’ engagement and offer a few solutions how to deal with it. All these theories are basically divided into three sets. The first one refers to the hypothesis in accordance with which the motivation to work is heavily affected by human needs. The second bunch of theories, namely the cognitive choice theories assert that people appeal to rationale while making their decisions in the workplace; the needs and instincts are irrelevant. The third block of theories refers to the ability of self-regulation. Their supporters advocate the thesis that the behavior of the individual might be adjusted in the pursuit of goals. All of these theories are more precisely examined further.

Need Theories.

The first theory, introduced by Maslow, refers to the hierarchy of five needs, basically physiological, the need for safety-security, esteem, belonging and self-actualization. Moreover, Maslow considers that until the first need is satisfied the further ones should not be necessary satisfied. Therefore, the physiological needs would play a significant role in determining one’s behavior until they are satisfied. The next need for security plays its role in defining the actions of a person. It ends with the satisfaction of self-actualization need.

Another theory was presented by Alderfer, who divided the needs into three categories; they are connected to the existence (physiological needs such as the demand for food, sex, sleep, hunger, etc.), relatedness (close relations with others who are important for us) and growth (the desire to achieve something). In fact, his approach is similar to the one suggested by Maslow. However, Alderfer does not constitute a hierarchy of needs stating that even if one of the needs is satisfied it may remain to be dominant in influencing one’s decisions.

The next theory is named Motivation-Hygiene theory and it has been introduced by Hezberg. The inventor of the theory considers that basically there are factors affecting job satisfaction (job promotions, high salaries and money bonuses, etc.) and job dissatisfaction (relations with peers, supervisors, the administration, working conditions, etc.). First and foremost, an organization striving to increase labor productivity should focus upon job dissatisfaction factors.

The Job Characteristics theory claims that whereas there is no opportunity to motivate the employees to changes, the current work conditions should be adjusted to the needs of the employees. Thus, the theory ties job performance to the characteristics of the subordinates and the features of the workplace or conditions of work. It states, that if one of the elements is altered, the rest are affected as well.

Self-regulation theories

Self-regulation motivation theories naturally follow the above described ones and are believed to combine the features of them. The first in a row is the goal-setting theory developed by G. Latham and E. Locke. The scientists assert that the employees who have to reach more difficult, but yet attainable goals are more successful at work than those who are expected to reach less complicated objectives. The goals are generally divided into two categories. The first one, namely the accuracy goals, are more researched, planned and examined. The directional goals are simply set; the further steps of reaching them are determined by the employees. Locke and Latham claim that the second ones are more motivational as they empower the individual to pass his own decisions to reach the objectives. The researchers state that the goals direct employees' attention and efforts to a certain task, mobilize their sinner strengths and make them more persistent. At the same moment, it should be stressed that the employee should be assigned to the specific goals. After completion of the task he/she should be provided with the feedback that analyses his/her contributions to the fulfillment of the task.

Social Cognitive theory claims that a lot of factors including the environmental, individual and behavioral, influence employees' willingness to work. The theory was first introduced by A. Bandura in 1960s. He claimed that goals-setting and self-reflection are the key motivational processes. Bandura stressed that the goals are to be set and the performance of the individual should be evaluated on the merit of his/her ability to reach the concrete goal. The evaluation is to be performed by the individual. Once the person realizes that he/she progresses in reaching his/her goals, this person remains to be highly-motivated. Three major components of the self-reflection include: the self-observation (the focus is on the behavioral patterns); self-evaluation (the attention is paid to the work completed) and self-reactions (the response to self-evaluation). The fourth element refers to self-efficacy which is the capability of the person to mobilize his/her inner resources, strengths, abilities in case he/she needs to take control over specific situation. The theory, however, presumes that the changes in the environment will necessary affect individual's behavior, which is half true. Additionally, the theory is less properly organized as it bases solely on the person, its behavior and environment without indicating which of the elements is the most influential.

The Control theory claims that employees never change their behavior in response to the external factors. Instead, they are inspired by their most significant needs at any given time. Glasser, the supporter of this theory, claims that if the worker refuses to fulfill his/her duties or underperformers, then it means that such activities are not prioritized by him/her. They are irrelevant to his/her needs. Glasser divided leaders into two groups. The first ones, the bosses, use punishment in order to force the employees to comply with the job requirements once set and to complete the work that has been assigned to them. Another group of leaders disregard the following of less meaningful requirements in case the employees remain highly motivated and engaged.

In conclusion, it should be noted that emotions actually move people. Motivation is definitely a strong emotion that boosts one’s abilities and willingness to work. It acts as energizer as it occurs after specific chemical signals that have been sent to the muscles. Various motivation theories discuss the causes that stimulate one’s eagerness to work better. Whereas some of them state that basic human needs affect the worker’s motivation to some extent, the others claim that rationally alone either encourages or discourages the employees to work. Bearing in mind the key concepts of each doctrine, the employers after evaluating the behavioral patterns of their employees might put some of the theories in practice in order to increase employees’ output and to enhance the motivational atmosphere in the workplace.

Author's Note

Chloe Mendez, writer at https://specialessays.com/ and a blogger

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