Five Motivation Theories

Motivation is a key aspect in the organization or workplace, and it is imperative to know the basic theory application and methods dealing with any problems that usually unavoidable for the employee and will come up in any work environment. This is a mandatory skills for a leader or future manager to know how important on how to motivate his or her employee to work more efficient. Motivating employees is a big dilemma for managers. To produce a higher level of performance and productivity, manager’s today are obliged to pay more attention on this matter. Every employee needs different types of motivation. In this paper will elaborate three motivational methods that a

Herzberg’s two factor theory of motivation at the workplace shows the difference between two factors of motivation. The two factors being satisfiers, which are the main causes for job satisfaction (motivation), from hygiene factors which are the main causes for job dissatisfaction (demotivation to stay in the job). Examples of motivating factors are achievement, recognition, responsibility and the work itself. Hygiene factors include: working conditions, salary, relationship with colleagues, supervision, etc. An organisation needs to influence satisfiers through performance management using range of tools such as: job descriptions, supervision, performance appraisals, continuous development/training, rewards and career development.

According to the Two-Factor theory (Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory), which is closely related to the Maslow’s theory of motivation, such factors as salary or safe and pleasant working conditions (hygiene factors)

Motivation most certainly plays a huge role in the workplace, therefore, it is imperative to understand fully the basic theories and methods, and of course how to apply these theories and methods to everyday workplace scenarios. These motivational skills and techniques will definitely play a key role for leaders and or managers, knowing how to motivate people in today’s workforce will provide job growth.

According to Herzberg two factor theory there are “two issues that play an important role in the workplace experience: hygiene factors and motivational factors”( Fischer and Baack, 2013 ). Hygiene factors contains wages, hours, working conditions and relationships with supervisors. Motivational factors consist of achievements, recognition, actual work or job, responsibility, and the chance for advancement or growth, and relationships with peers. Herzberg states that a person is either satisfied and driven or unfulfilled and

› Theory Y: Assumes that people like work, are creative, like autonomy, and seek responsibility

Hygiene factors which do not give positive satisfaction, although dissatisfaction results from their absence. These are extrinsic to the work itself, such as Company policy, Supervision, Relationship with boss, Work conditions, Salary, Relationship with peers, Security.

Employee equality, job security, and fair wages are considered some of the hygiene factors that exist in a workplace environment (O. Ferrell, Hirt, & L. Ferrell, 2009). Frederick Herzberg used these elements along with motivational factors to create a theory of motivation, known as Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory.

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

Contentment and satisfaction of employees is extremely important as jobs are becoming more specified, selecting and training another set of workers is a long, expensive process. Motivation is the strongest, most efficient way to keep employees happy and at peak performance and things such as just saying “thank you” go a long way. In a study completed by Forbes, who polled over 2,000 professionals found that 53% of workers are more likely to stay with a company for a longer period of time solely based off of them receiving more appreciation from their boss/manager. That same study also found that 81% of workers are more motivated at work when their boss shows appreciation or thanks. Human resources has a huge part to play in this because of their role in the development, maintenance, and retention of employees. The HR management must make sure that bosses and managers with workers under their supervision feel appreciated and heard. This will lead to the employees working harder and/or better, making them more proud and happy, while benefiting the business by having a more efficient worker.

Herzberg’s model (1956) is the most used in business. It splits hygiene factors from motivation factors. Hygiene factors are related to salary, working conditions, policies and administration are not managed well lead to dissatisfaction in the employees when they are not satisfied. (Saiyadain, 2009)

According to Herzberg, the factors leading to job satisfaction are distinctly different from those that lead to job-dissatisfaction. Therefore, the managers who seek to eliminate factors that create job-dissatisfaction can bring about peace at the workplace but cannot motivate the employees. These factors are termed as hygiene factors comprising administration, supervision, working conditions, salary and wages etc. While absence of hygiene factors will lead to dissatisfaction, mere presence of these factors will not satisfy (i.e. motivate) the employees. In order to motivate the employees, managers must resort to ‘motivators’ (those factors that motivate the employees towards better performance) such as recognition, challenging assignment, responsibility, opportunities for growth and self-fulfillment etc.

Herzberg’s two-factor theory Psychologist Frederick Herzberg developed a ‘two-factor’ theory for motivation based on ‘motivators’ and ‘hygience factors’. Hygience factors are basic human needs at work. It do not motivate but failure to meet them causes dissatisfaction. The hygience factors

The results obtained are found to be contradicting with Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory. The study revealed that the strongest motivation factor with the highest significance level on job satisfaction is the working conditions, which is a hygiene factor. The subsequent factors that motivate the sales personnel reported are recognition, company policies and

In explaining Herzberg’s two factor theory, Snyderman (1957) in Beach (1988) emphersises that employees have different needs and wants meaning what motivates one is different from what motivates the other hence it can not be assumed that money motivates everyone.People who work just for the money could find their tasks less desirable and may not therefore do them so well leading to a decrease in productivity.Herzberg noted that the absence of hygiene factors ,which is basic salary,may lead to job dissatisfaction and their presents does not mean workers get motivated, hygiene factors therefore act as as a foundation for motivation.