“The definition of motivation is to give reason, incentive, enthusiasm, or interest that causes a specific action or certain behavior. Motivation is present in every life function”.1 It’s a set of forces that make people act in certain ways and behave according to the event.
There are many theories that explain what motivates humans and what takes them to behave in certain ways. According to these theories behavior can be predicted and influenced through motivation. The teacher introduced some of the most important and known theories which are: Maslow's hierarchy of needs, McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y, Herzberg's two-factor theory, Alderfer's ERG theory and McClelland's need theory
The Maslow’s hierarchy of needs or theory of motivation assumes that human beings are motivated by unsatisfied needs. There are certain lower factors that need to be satisfied before higher needs can be satisfied. “According to Maslow, there are general types of needs (physiological needs, safety needs, belonging and love needs, self-esteem needs and self actualization) that must be satisfied before a person can act unselfishly”.2 In other words, individuals are motivated if their needs are met. Maslow’s pyramid is really popular and explains on a simple way his theory.
Douglas McGregor in his book “The Human Side of Enterprise” proposed two theories in order to understand employee’s motivation. The McGregor theory describes two different attitudes toward workforce motivation which he named Theory X and Theory Y. Companies follow either one of the theories. Theory X shows that the average human being dislikes work and will avoid it if he can. Workers described by this theory have no ambition, wants no responsibility, they prefer to follow than lead, are self-centered, don’t care about organizational goals and resists change. Theory X assumes that people work only for money and security. The Theory Y shows that management assumes employees may be ambitious and self-motivated, that employees enjoy their mental and physical work duties. Workers have the ability for problem solving, but most of the time their talent is underused in most organizations. This theory believes that the satisfaction of doing a good job is a strong motivation. Employees under Theory Y can be seen as people that show that work can be as natural as play and rest, self-directed to meet their work objectives if they are committed to them, committed to their objectives if rewards are in place that addresses higher needs such as self-fulfillment and they will seek responsibility. Both theories give recommendations of how managers should deal with workers. The Theory X recommends that money and security are the main motivators for workers. Theory Y recommends having a good relationship and communication with workers and also converting the organizations goals into individual needs and goals.
Herzberg made a lot of research and studies in order to determine which factors caused satisfaction or dissatisfaction on people working in an organization. He discovered that people are influenced by two factors which he called motivation factors and hygiene factors. Motivation factors are needed to ensure that the employee doesn’t become dissatisfied. This can be achieved by giving them challenging work, recognition, responsibility and other challenges that give positive satisfaction, achievement, or personal growth. Hygiene factors are needed in order to motivate an employee to higher and better performance. Such factors are: salary, status, security, working conditions, quality of supervision, interpersonal relations and company policies and administration among others.
The Alderfer's ERG theory is based on the Maslow’s theory. It has much in common with it but differs in some important aspects. He classifies needs into three categories and ordered them hierarchically as Maslow did. He talks about the growth needs (development of competence and realization of potential), relatedness needs (satisfactory relations with others) and existence needs (physical well-being). Alderfer believed that as people start satisfying higher needs, they become more intense or even become an addiction. The main difference between Alderfer’s theory and Maslow’s theory is that the needs can be met at the same time, so various levels of needs can cause motivation simultaneously.
The McClelland's need theory explains that the individual specific needs are achieved over time and shaped by life experiences. He said that individuals have three needs; the need of achievement, the need of power, and the affiliation need. People are motivated by achievement and that is why they look for challenging goals, moving up in the organization, progress and accomplishment. Human beings are also motivated by power which produces a need to be influential, effective and to make an impact. They want to be a leader and their ideas to prevail; this can generate an increasing personal status and prestige. Affiliation is also really important because people has a need for friendly relationships and is motivated towards interaction with other people; this can lead to be popular among a group and creates a need to be liked among others.
Questions
1. What are the Hawthorne Studies? Explain its importance for studying motivation at the workplace and its influence over diverse motivation theories. (Include key findings and limitations)
The Hawthorne Plant of the Western Electric Company in Cicero, Illinois was the place selected in order to carry out the research project about how individual behaviors may be altered because they know they are being studied. This research was lead by Elton Mayo, F.J. Roethlisberger and William J. Dickson between 1927 and 1932. They started to examine the influence that the environment had over workers and production. First they measured if the lighting of the workplace increased employee productivity and they realized that it actually worked. Then they moved into the psychological aspects like breaks, group pressure, working hours, managerial leadership. All of these changes tend to improve production because workers were pleased to receive attention from the researchers who expressed an interest in them.
“Four general conclusions were drawn from the Hawthorne studies:
o The aptitudes of individuals are imperfect predictors of job performance. Although they give some indication of the physical and mental potential of the individual, the amount produced is strongly influenced by social factors.
o Informal organization affects productivity. The Hawthorne researchers discovered a group life among the workers. The studies also showed that the relations that supervisors develop with workers tend to influence the manner in which the workers carry out directives.
o Work-group norms affect productivity. The Hawthorne researchers were not the first to recognize that work groups tend to arrive at norms of what is "a fair day's work," however, they provided the best systematic description and interpretation of this phenomenon.
o The workplace is a social system. The Hawthorne researchers came to view the workplace as a social system made up of interdependent parts.”3
This study demonstrated how working conditions influence the behavior and performance of individuals. There are factors that motivate employees but like the McGregor's Theory X and Theory Y says, not all workers are motivated by the same things. It is really important for managers to understand and differentiate the kind of workers the organization has.
The Herzberg's two-factor theory can also be related to the Hawthorne studies because it shows that there are other factors that involve the employee to work and do a good performance but not with satisfaction. In this study they discovered that improving lighting, giving workers time to rest, water, comfort, less humidity are all better working conditions that can make workers feel better but deep inside those are not strong motivators. For workers when they receive challenging work, recognition, responsibility and other challenges that give positive satisfaction, achievement, or personal growth are much more important motivators.
Managers play an important role in any organization. They have to analyze and study the organizational environment and the people that make part of it. When employees realize that they are being observed they can feel important because they feel that they are part of the organization. Sometimes workers can also become depressed or feel uncomfortable because they feel they are being observed because they are doing something wrong. A positive result depends on the way managers manage things and people. If the leader observes workers in a good and friendly way they will feel comfortable. Also a good communication creates a positive environment.
2. Based on the class activity about "Flight 001: Motivating Employees", please answer the following question: ¿Which motivation theory do you think has the most relevance for understanding the behavior of Griffin and fostering her motivation at work?
I think that the McGregor's Theory Y has the most relevance for understanding the behavior of Griffin and fostering her motivation at work. This theory shows that employees may be ambitious and self-motivated, that they enjoy their mental and physical work duties. They have the ability for problem solving and the satisfaction of doing a good job is a strong motivation.
In the Flight 001: Motivating Employees is really clear that Amanda Shank is a good example of a person that has been fulfilled the basic or lower order needs. After her basic needs are completely fulfilled she wants to move on and start with the higher order needs. Amanda Shank starts to look for a further responsibility in the organization and knows that she is completely capable of having a better performance and help with the achievement of organizational goals. She has the ability of problem solving and going further on with her tasks. All of these are good reasons for why he enjoys working in Flight 001.
References
1. http://ezinearticles.com/?Definition-of-Motivation&id=1567108
2. http://www.envisionsoftware.com/articles/Maslows_Needs_Hierarchy.html
3. http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/history/hawthorne.html
- http://www.accel-team.com/human_relations/hrels_03_mcgregor.html
- http://www.netmba.com/mgmt/ob/motivation/mcgregor/
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_X_and_theory_Y
- http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/methods_herzberg_two_factor_theory.html
- http://www.netmba.com/mgmt/ob/motivation/herzberg/
- http://www.envisionsoftware.com/articles/ERG_Theory.html
- http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/methods_alderfer_erg_theory.html
- http://www.businessballs.com/davidmcclelland.htm
- http://www.netmba.com/mgmt/ob/motivation/mcclelland/
Images taken from:
-http://informationrain.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/400px-maslows_hierarchy_of_needssvg.png
-http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://dept.sfcollege.edu/crc/musselman/cwp/erg.jpg&imgrefurl=http://lukasz-janczak.blogspot.com/2009_11_01_archive.html&h=183&w=285&sz=7&tbnid=yiCvFwcbK4dIqM:&tbnh=74&tbnw=115&prev=/images%3Fq%3DAlderfer%2527s%2BERG&zoom=1&usg=__dVpnXnsSfuecM5uIZkGG5hSemw8=&sa=X&ei=Q9huTK-dO4OBlAe54tyMDg&ved=0CDEQ9QEwBQ
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