Terms and fundas

HR

Theories in motivation

“Motivation represents an unsatisfied need which creates a state of tension or disequilibrium, causing an individual to move in a goal-directed pattern, towards restoring a state of equilibrium by satisfying the need.”

There are three factors in play:

1.    Need (or deficiency)

2.    Drive (with direction)

3.    Goals and incentives (to fulfil deficiency)

Any unfulfilled need or any deficiency results in a drive to achieve the goals and the incentives assist the drive to satisfy the needs. This is the basic mechanism of motivation.

Mashlow's theory of hierarchy of needs

According to Mashlow’s theory, there are five types or levels of needs along with a hierarchy. Once a lower level need is satisfied, it stops acting as a motivator and the person needs a higher level need to act as a motivator. The five needs are, in the increasing order of hierarchy:

1)   Physiological needs (basic)

2)   Security needs (safety)

3)   Social needs (belonging)

4)   Esteem needs

5)   Self-actualisation needs

At first, we need our basic or fundamental needs to be satisfied, like proper food, sleep, and other human needs. Unless these needs are satisfied, any other factor from the hierarchy can’t act as a motivator. That is why our age old saying goes: “Bhukhe pet bhajan nahi hota!” When physiological needs are satisfied, we start thinking about the ways to continue satisfying them, and then security needs arise. Means: being free of any physical danger, or the feeling of loss of food, job etc. When the two needs are satisfied, social needs occupy our minds; we look for association with others, and try to be accepted by the group. Then the esteem needs become important, e.g. power, prestige, status, etc. The highest level is the need for self actualisation. When we achieve all, the feeling comes whether we have achieved what we were capable of achieving or not. This is called self-actualisation. If a feeling comes that I haven’t got enough up to my potential, a further dissatisfaction arises, which now acts as the motivator for me.

The needs are presented in the form of a pyramid, the basic ones being at the bottom. It also represents that the basic or the bottom needs are more widely seen and affect more people compared to the top ones.

One very important contribution of this theory is the ranking that Mashlow has done. Experiments have proved that such rankings are really valid, but they vary from person to person. For some people for example, social needs may come ahead of security needs, and for some other, security needs may keep driving him for ever, and he may never satisfy this need to move ahead to other higher needs.

Herzberg's two factor theory

This theory came after Mashlow’s and hence it had the advantage of modifying the earlier one for the better. Herzberg said that all the factors/needs affecting motivation can be divided into two categories:

1.    Hygiene factors or dissatisfiers

2.    Motivating factors

The hygiene factors are the factors which don’t result in satisfaction, but their absence results in dissatisfaction. For example, company policy, salary, working conditions, interpersonal relations, and personal life. Hence these are dissatisfiers and not motivators.

The second category are the ‘satisfiers’ in the sense that they are motivators. For example, recognition, challenging work, advancement and growth in the job, etc.

This theory is definitely an improvement above the earlier one. Another feature is that it doesn’t attempt to rank the factors. Typically, the factors at the bottom of the pyramid of Mashlow’s theory are hygiene factors of Herzberg’t theory.

Vroom’s expectancy theory of motivation

According to this model, motivation of any individual depends on the desired goal and the strength of his expectation of achieving the goal.

Vroom’s model is based on three concepts:

1.    Valance - strength of an individual’s preference for a particular outcome. The valance to be positive, the person must prefer attaining the outcome to not attaining.

2.    Instrumentality – This factor is the instrumentality of the first level outcome in obtaining the desired second level outcome. It is the degree to which a first level outcome will lead to the second level outcome.

3.    Expectancy - It is the probability or strength of belief that a particular action will leave to a particular first level outcome.

Vroom says the sum of these variables is the motivation.

Alderfer’s ERG Theory

Alderfer identifies three groups of needs:

1.    Existence (E): Needs concerned with survival or psychological wellbeing

2.    Relatedness (R): importance of interpersonal and social relationships

3.    Growth (G): concerned with individual’s intrinsic desire for personal development.

Special feature of this theory is that it neither tries to rank the needs, not does it says that one need is generated only when some other are satisfied. Depending on many factors like person’s background and cultural environment, one of these three needs will motivate you until they are satisfied.

This theory argues that a major input into job performance and satisfaction is the degree of equity (or inequity) that people perceive in their work situation.

Equity occurs when the ratio

(Person’s outcomes) / (person’s inputs) = (Other’s outcomes) / (Other’s inputs)

Both the inputs and outputs of the person and other are based on person’s perceptions. If the person’s perceived ratio is not equal to other’s, s/he will strive to restore the ratio to equity. Thus the work motivation of oneself depends upon other’s inputs, outputs, and one’s perceived output.

Pages referred: Wikipedia articles and Dr. P. Subba Rao, Personnel and Human Resource Management – Text and cases; (2000) – Himalaya Publishing House

21 Jan. 08

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