motivation
...ogical needs have been reasonable satisfied. These take the form of the desire for protection from physical danger, economic security, and provision of orderly and predictable world. Social Needs: The third level is that of social needs. Once again, these only become effective motivators as needs for safety become reasonable satisfied. They include the need to belong to a group, to be accepted, to give and receive friendship and affection. Esteem Needs: These are needs for recognition, and they go to fulfilling the needs of a person’s ego. Once again these become motivators only after the social needs have been fulfilled. Self Actualization Needs: At the pinnacle of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is the need for self-actualization. This is the individual’s need for realizing his own potential for self-fulfillment and continued self development; for being creative in the broadest sense of the term. The specific form of these needs will obviously vary from one individual to another. This is the most difficult need to fulfill, because the need for self growth persists. Limitations of Maslow’s Theory This theory is useful, and can be applied generally. However, it must be born in mind that levels in the hierarchy are not rigidly fixed, but do tend to overlap. Further, the same needs will not lead to the same response in all individuals. HERZBERG’S TWO-FACTOR THEORY (1966) Herzberg has provided an alternative explanation of the ways in which needs such as salary, achievement, and working conditions affect people’s motivation to work. He asked 200 engineers and accountants about the factors which improved or reduced their job satisfaction. Two distinct groups of factors were identified, as follows: Hygiene Factors Motivating Factors Company Policy Achievement Salary Recognition Supervision Responsibility Working Conditions Job Itself --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hygiene Factors Hygiene factors were those factors that created a favourable environment for motivating people, and prevented job dissatisfaction. They included company policy and administration, managerial supervision, salary, interpersonal relationships and working conditions. Hygiene factors prevent employees from leaving the organization, but do not create motivation to work harder. Hygiege factors correspond to Maslow’s lower level needs (physiological, sefety and belonging). Motivating Factors Motivating factors promoted job satisfaction by their presence, but only when hygiene factors were also present in satisfactory levels. Motivating factors included achievement, recognition, the work itself, responsibility and advancement. Motivating factors correspond to Maslow’s higher level needs, (esteem and self actualizing needs). Herzberg’s work shows that satisfaction and dissatisfaction are not simple opposites. Each is governed by its own group of factors: satisfaction by motivating factors, and dissatisfaction by hygiene factors. To remove the causes of dissatisfaction is not the same as creating satisfaction. ALDERFER’S ERG THEORY Alderfer reduced Maslow’s five needs into three needs, namely Existence, Relatedness and Growth. The existence needs include all the various forms of material and physiological desires like food, water, pay and good working conditions. The relatedness needs involve relationships with people either family, superiors, subordinates, friends or enemies. Growth needs are those that drive a person to have creative or productive influences on themselves or on the environment. Alderfer reduced Maslow’s five levels of needs to three. He however did not see them as a hierarchy, but instead, finds that one class of needs may remain strong whether or not another class has been satisfied. There are however some similarities with Maslow in that the less the needs satisfied, the more they will be desired. He also agrees with Maslow that the less the relatedness needs are satisfied, the more they will be desired. He however differs with Maslow in that in his (Maslow’s) theory, he states that the less the relatedness needs are satisfied, the more existence needs will be desired and also the less the growth needs are satisfied, the more relatedness needs are desired. McCLELLAND MOTIVATING NEES David McClelland identified three basic motivating needs, which to some extent correspond, to Maslow’s social, esteem and self-realization needs. McClelland measured the levels of these needs in various individuals, discovering that the existence of one need did not mean that the other two did not exist: rather, that an individual could be strongly motivated by a combination of all three needs. McClelland’s three motivating needs were as follows: The Need for Affiliation: People with a strong need for affiliation usually gain pleasure from groups within which they enjoy intimacy, understanding and friendly interaction, and are concerned with maintaining good relationships. The Need for Power: Those with a strong need for power want to exercise influence and control. They seek positions of leadership and influence, and tend to be argumentative, demanding, forceful, and good communicators. The Need for Achievement: People with a strong need for achievement have an intense desire for success, and an equally intense fear of failure. THE PROCESS THEORIES OF MOTIVATION In contrast to the content theories, process theories examine the ways in which certain outcomes of events become attractive to people, and therefore are pursued by them. An example of process theories is Vroom’s Expectancy theory. Process theories differ from content theories in that they assume that individuals can choose their own needs and goals. Vroom’s Expectancy Theory (1964) According to this theory, the levels of motivation that an individual feels for doing a particular activity depends upon the extent to which the results are expected to contribute to her own particular needs and goals. It can then be said the strength of an individual’s motivation is a factor of the strength of preference for the particular outcome, and...