Process and Content Theory of Motivation and How They Apply to the Work Place

Motivation is a main point in which I am interested and in order to understand more about the topic I have based my review in 2 different sources: Forbes article “Motivation Mystery: How to Keep Employees Productive” and Daniel Pink Ted Talk “The Puzzle of Motivation”.

Employee motivation and performance management depends on a good system that offers both financial and non-financial rewards (non-monetary rewards). The purposes of rewards within a performance management system helps:

Motivational Theories are important to management today because employers and managers need to know what drives the employees to perform at their best, and why. As Hersey explains, “If we are to understand, predict, and influence behavior, we must know what our employees really want from their jobs. Only then can we appeal to their strongest motivations and increase the probability of meeting both professional and organizational goals”

Motivation is defined as the process that initiates, guides, and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. Motivation is what causes us to act, whether it is getting a glass of water to reduce thirst or reading a book to gain knowledge. (Cherry, 2016) Motivation plays the role in everyday lives. Ones motivation to do something differs from ones feels and the type of motivation towards the action that is being done. By studying motivation, we learn what gives our behavior its purpose, direction and sustainability. (Bond & McConkey, 2001, p. 6.3).

In this theory it is declared that people have dissimilar series of purposes and can be motivated if they accept as true that there is a constructive connection amid hard work and performance, because approving performance will end up with a useful reward and the reward will gratify a significant need.

4. 3 Major Types of Motivation Theories  Content Theories of Motivation WHAT motivates us  Process

Keeping employees motivated in addition to creating incentives and/or additional ways for employees to receive more compensation will create better performance overall within an organization. Contrary if company B gives their employees incentives to perform, without any motivational tactics they probably will not have as many top performances as company A, in addition the company may only seek short term rewards verses have long term success. Lack of motivation for employees within an organization, can cause long term damage for the company’s success. Different things motivate everyone; therefore there should be a system in place to keep employees motivated for the long term success of the company. In the MBM textbook under the concept of incentives, compensation, and motivation, there are a couple of different views of how it should be applied within an organization. We will discuss The Social Role of Profit, Personal Profit and Losses, and the way Market-Based Management view how incentives, compensation, and motivation should be applied and the things that effectively drive employees’ actions while at work.

‘Motivation’ is derived from the Latin term ‘movere’ that means ‘to move’. Thus, motivation is a process that starts with a physiological or psychological deficiency or need that activates a behaviour or a drive that is aimed at a goal or incentive (Luthans). Broadly speaking, motivation is willingness to exert high levels of efforts towards organizational goals, conditioned by the efforts’ ability to satisfy some individual needs (Robbins). Need means some internal state that make certain outcomes appear attractive. An unsatisfied need creates tension that stimulates drives within the individual. These drives generate a search behaviour to find particular goals, that if attained,

Human Resources is dependent on the success, happiness, and contentment of employees that keep the business on course. Motivation is one of the best ways to push employees forward while making sure everyone is in a comfortable position in their job. Motivational theories just attempt to explain what motivates or makes people act the way that they do. The goal of understanding these theories and their outcomes is to ensure a better performance from each employee, and to give each of those employees the best situation they can have in the workplace. Visionaries such as Abraham Maslow, Frederick Herzberg, and Henry A. Landsberger also brought forward new ways of management and ways to handle internal situations that changed the landscape of human resources as a whole. Motivational theories instituted in the workplace have a commonly positive effect on both employees and management, showing that it is important to strive for proven motivational practices.

Motivation is the force that makes us do things: this is a result of our individual needs being satisfied (or met) so that we have inspiration to complete the task.

Different from content motivation theory, process theory mainly studies on the psychological process from the generation of motives to adoption of specific behaviors, tries to figure out the human’s understanding on labor contribution, efficacy requirements and rewards values, or studying on motivation problems from external inducements.

Motivation and theories -------------------------- 2.1. Definition and theory framework ------------------------------------ Motivation can be described as the driving force of individual behaviour to fulfill needs or achieve goals. Mitchell defines motivation as 'the degree to which an individual wants and chooses to engage in certain specified behaviours' (Mullins 2002:418). In terms of this definition, various theories have been developed around.

Firstly incentives work as psychological stimulant for a person to perform better. Incentives act like the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Osland, et al. (2007) provide a good introduction to three basic motivational content theories. The first theory is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs that proposes man is motivated by a lack in the one or more of the five common needs. The needs that Maslow identifies are physiological, safety, social belonging, self-esteem, and self-actualization. Maslow believed that one fills needs from the most basic (like food and water) to the highest level (self-actualization). Maslow’s ideas are easy to relate to and attempt to provide an all-inclusive approach to the concept of motivation; however, there is little evidence to support the idea that man cannot have self-actualization without the other more basic needs first satisfied. The second content theory Osland, et al. discuss is McCelland’s learned needs. McCelland states that man is motivated by one of three things: achievement, power, or affiliation – or a mixture of the three. Each of these needs can possess a negative or positive connotation or implementation, but it is argued that people motivated by affiliation make better leaders. The third theory presented is McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y. McGregor asserts that Theory X people or employees are inherently lazy and must be controlled and forced to act, whereas Theory Y people are self-controlled, motivated, and ambitious.

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,