Motivation is one of the most discussed topics in the present era’s organisations, especially since renowned psychologists like Maslow and Herzberg are dedicating their efforts to understanding it. Companies are investing a significant amount of resources in improving productivity in order to maximise profits. One of these important resources is of human nature. In order to get the very best out of employees, some motivational approaches need to be used. But what is motivation and how do I successfully motivate? I will try to relate one of my personal experiences with a friend to some of the most influential motivational theories. After introducing my story and making a definition of motivation I will address the ideas of Taylor, …show more content…
Baron (1983) says that “motivation is a set of process concerned with a kind of force that energizes behavior and directs it towards achieving some specific goals” (Baron, 1983, p. xxx). According to Kreitner and Kinicki (2001, p.162) motivation represents “those psychological processes that cause the stimulation, persistence of voluntary actions that are goal directed”. Consequently, these definitions lead to the assumption that motivation is something evolving from within an individual as well as the individual being influenced by external factors.
One of the first authors that dealt with the sources of motivation was Frederick Taylor who focussed on the overall productivity of an organisation. He linked this productivity to the effort an employee puts into their work which in turn is dependent on monetary rewards (Taylor, 1911). This theory was established in the context of the industrial age and thus is outdated for today’s analysis but it still provides a basic assumption which is often referred to by other authors. The total neglecting of a worker’s intrinsic motivators is a starting point for discussion for authors that conducted research in that area after Taylor.
Douglas McGregor presented Theory X and Theory Y in his book “The Human Side of Enterprise”. In these two theories McGregor has presented two types of managerial style. Theory X says that management is responsible for directing efforts of the people, motivating them, controlling their actions
Motivation is derived from an internal force that provides an individual the opportunity to achieve their needs or goals. People are motivated by a variety of things and often have different motivating factors. Employers should be mindful of individual motivating factors when attempting to motivate staff to increase performance. While some people may be motivated by money, many are motivated by things like: recognition, promotion, and increased responsibility. Once an employer has identified motivating factors they are able to analyze a variety of motivational theories to design and implement a program that will motivate employees to go above and beyond what is expected of them.
Motivation. There are several ways to define what motivation means, but to me motivation means you accomplish whatever needs to be completed with no excuses. The biggest incentive that is important to me is self-motivation seeing as, if you don’t believe you can do it, you won’t be able to, you have to believe it to achieve it. You can’t depend on other people to encourage you to do it, you have to want to do it on your own to become successful.
All employees analyze their environment and strive to be recognized and rewarded for their hard work and dedication they put into the company, in a word they are seeking justice. Justice can be defined as a person receiving what they feel they are entitled to and if they do not receive what they deserve the situation may board on injustice. Unfortunately in today’s society justice and appreciation are not given out to all those deserving (Pinder, 1998). A major problem to address is how to keep the motivation level high in a company when the employees do not feel appreciated.
Motivation is a very broad term that is discussed in a variety of settings. There is the motivation to perform in a business setting, the motivation to perform on the field of competition, the motivation to provide for friends and family, and the motivation to accomplish goals that have been set. These are all various motivations that any one person can be involved with at any time. According to Maslow, motivation always exists within a person and in various forms, “...motivation is constant, never ending, fluctuating, and complex, and that it is an almost universal characteristic of practically every organismic state of affairs” (Maslow, 1954). As complex as motivation seems, it is everyone’s intention to identify their personal
When a person plans or wants to do something, he or she has a motivation for that specific thing. In other words, when a person does something, that person has a reason why he or she should do that thing. Not always there is a reason to do something, but sometimes may be many reasons that are backing a person to take those actions to do it. This happens not only to humans, or living organisms, but also in nonliving organisms. An example is when a rock which had bounced after it hit the floor while falling down. Scientists may tell some of the reasons why the rock does that kind of action, but they cannot tell all of the reasons that back the rock’s actions. A similar thing, as the scientists, was Alfie Kohn trying to do in his essay, “Why
The success of any business depends on the productivity and satisfaction of its employees. Employees need to be motivated to work. Motivation can be defined as the inner force that drives individuals to accomplish personal and organizational goals. Motivation can be either intrinsic or extrinsic. For an individual to be motivated in a work situation there must be a need, which the individual would have to perceive a possibility of satisfying through some reward. Intrinsic motivation stems from motivations that are inherent and arise from performing the task of the job itself, which the individual gets a feeling of either positive or negative motivation as a result of
Motivation is the force that makes us do things, whether accomplishing personal goals or completing tasks at work. Most people are motivated as a result of their individual needs being satisfied, which gives them the inspiration to perform specific behaviors for which they receive rewards (Kinicki & Williams, 2011). These needs vary from person to person, as everybody has specific needs to be satisfied. When we consider factors that determine the motivation of employees, many of us think of a high salary. This answer is correct for the reason that some employees will be motivated by money, but mostly wrong for the reason that it does not satisfy other needs to a lasting degree (Bizhelp24, 2010). This supports the idea that human
Motivation is the “why” behind our behaviors. Behavior that is usually goal-oriented. The forces that lie beneath motivation can be biological, social, emotional or cognitive in nature. There are, indeed, a plethora of inducements that cause us to act the way we act and do the things we do. They include things like quenching our thirst, reading to gain knowledge, studying to ace an exam, surpassing quotas and meeting deadlines for a promotion, etc. According to Kendra Cherry’s article on “WHAT IS MOTIVATION”, there are three components of motivation: activation, persistence and intensity. Activation is the decision to initiate a behavior. Persistence is the continued effort toward a goal even though obstacles may exist. Intensity is the
Motivation in the workplace is one of the major concerns that managers face when trying to encourage their employees to work harder and do what is expected of them on a day-to-day basis. According to Organizational Behavior by John R. Schermerhorn, James G. Hunt and Richard N. Osborn the definition of motivation is "the individual forces that account for the direction, level, and persistence of a person's effort expended at work." They go on to say that "motivation is a key concern in firms across the globe." Through the years there have been several theories as to what motivates employees to do their best at work. In order to better understand these theories we will apply them to a fictitious organization that has the following
Motivation is a very strong tool we can use to get further in life and to achieve our dreams and goals. Setting goals for ourselves is something that I consider to be very important, I believe in always pushing myself further and further in life, not only physically but mentally as well. We all have different things or tools we can use to motivate us towards our end goals. In order for us to stay motivated we have to have a goal and be driven towards achieving that goal.
Students want and need work that enables them to demonstrate and improve their sense of themselves as competent and successful human beings. This is the drive toward mastery. But success, while highly valued in our society, can be more or less motivational. People who are highly creative, for example, actually experience failure far more often than success. Biehler (p. 225) claims that studies show that when CAI used in conjunction with a teacher's lessons, is particularly beneficial for low-achieving and young students.
"Work" is a positive thing for many people. To some people, it may be described as a place to escape from the kids, or even a time consumption thing for a single or retired person, but most importantly it is what we do in order to provide for our families and ourselves. Work is something that we all will experience at one time or another during our lives.
The Psychodynamic perspective of motivation would argue that humans are motivated by unconscious drives that build tension states until satisfied (Burton et al, 2015). People have influential conscious motives (wishes), and powerful unconscious motives (fears) that direct motivation (Burton et al.). Once a wish (refer to glossary for definition) is achieved it may be temporally deactivated or appear as less intense (Burton et al.). A fear is a sign of a undesired condition that is associated with unpleasant feelings (Burton et al.). Arousal is the indication in theories of motivation and emotion, serving as the driving force or energy in the wake of a particular motivation or behaviour (PSY 2020, 2016b). “Sigmund Freud Viennese Physician developed a theory of mental life and behaviour”, the Psychodynamic perspective.” (Burton et al.). This perspective believes that “consciousness is like the tip of an iceberg; the mind is like a battleground for warring factions” (Burton et al.).
Motivation is the desire of doing things, to attain the goals set by the individuals. Motivating Employees is one of the most essential skills that are possessed by the manager, as it relates to the degree in which the employees can be influenced. As Mark Twain (1869) had said, “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” Motivated employees have an impact on the productivity of the business as the employees channel their energy towards completing the organizational goals. (Marc & Daft, 2012) From many years, different psychologists have studied and provided with many motivational theories over the years. The conclusion that is reached by them is that motivation is a problem. The workforce is a ‘big asset’ of the company, so they are ‘only source of competitive advantage’ that makes them different from their competition. (Wilson, 2009)
What is motivation? What influences it? The term motivation can be defined in different ways. Motivation can simply defined as “ a need that, if high, is evident in a strong desire to achieve, to excel, to reach a high level of excellence” (Lefrancois 430). To become motivated, one must have a positive attitude to a variety of learning skills. Some factors that influence motivation include our peers, friends, parents, and environmental settings. Division four being high school division, attention is focused towards learning and what methods can be used. Students at this stage are more eager and develop a sense of what he or she wants to do and accomplish in upcoming adulthood. With a division comes a group of intelligent theorists. All