Theories Of Motivation For Discussion Purposes

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.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs was introduced in the mid-1940’s by Abraham Maslow; it is one of the most popular theories of work motivation to this day. the theory was originally used specifically in a psychological setting, but was made more popular by Douglas McGregor in the late 1960’s and began to be used by not only psychologists but managers as well (Steers & Porter, 1983). The hierarchy is based on the fact that human beings have needs, Maslow took these needs and separated them into five categories: physiological needs, safety, belongingness or social needs,

Mitchell (1982, p.82) describes motivation as “the degree to which an individual wants and chooses to engage in certain specified behaviours”. Hence, in general, behaviour is determined by certain motives, thus, Vroom and Deci (1992, p.33) considered motivation “as the causes of our behaviour”. Moreover, according to Mullins (2013, p.245) motivation is concerned with question “why do people do what they do?”, because motivation is an inner driving force which leads to particular action to achieve some aim and fulfil some need. In other words, Chartered Management Institute (cited in Mullins, 2013, p.246) observes that, “the aim of management is to give people what they really want most from work”.

What is motivation? As manager’s, motivation is one of the most vital and crucial assets to possess in managing a business. This drive is a critical tool to use in the work place and determine the success or failure of an organization. Motivation is a driving force that initiates and directs behavior. In other words, motivation is an internal energy that drives an individual to do something in order to achieve a certain goal. Therefore, creating a motivating environment in the workplace will lead to happy employees. Creating a work environment like this, managers can expect low staff turnovers, improved productivity, happy customers, and better financial performance. Therefore, the input of motivation use towards employees determines the output efficiency of the company. However, everyone involved in an organization is motivated differently. Everybody has their own individual needs in regards to motivation. Depending on how motivated a person is, determines the effort that individual puts into the work and therefore, how productive they are.

1) Choose one of the theories from the Motivation Concepts Table and describe how this theory would and would not be applicable if applied to two or more workplace situations drawn from your personal experience.

Motivation is: “the psychological process that gives behaviour purpose and direction (Kreitner, 1995); a predisposition to behave in a purposive manner to achieve specific, unmet needs (Buford, Bedeian, & Lindner, 1995); an internal drive to satisfy an unsatisfied need (Higgins, 1994); and the will to achieve” (Bedeian, 1993). Due to the difference in the definitions for motivation, I will use the definition – Motivation is the inner drive that allows individuals to achieve company and personal goals.

Understanding concepts such as Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs allows leaders in an organization to understand that their employees will not be productive or successful if basic fundamental needs are not first met. Doss & Sheppard (2015) point out that Maslow’s theory suggests that if these needs aren’t met that the potential for criminal behavior may develop. Employees who feel intimidated or threatened, berated and belittled might resort to workplace violence. This is also the case for those who feel that their job is in jeopardy or those who have recently been fired. McLeod (2014) defines Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as physiological needs or the need for food, water and sleep; Safety which can be defined as shelter from the elements or from

My motivation factors are extrinsic and intrinsic. Not only do I wish to obtain exceptional grades and receive a bachelor's degree, I also wish to learn and challenge myself. I agree with most if not all, of what Daniel Pink stated. What is most important to me is possessing autonomy over my time and with whom I spend it, however, there is still work to be performed in that area. I enjoy managing how my time is spent, which is one of the reasons my classes are online. Additionally, I prefer to be graded on my own efforts, rather than as a group. However, group or team projects, can reduce the workload, while multiplying success. Not to mention the diversity and brainstorming benefits. As for mastery, I am not quite there yet, since I am a work in progress. In reference to purpose, I do agree that we should work for something lager than ourselves. Meaning, the work I will engage in upon graduation, is not only for the betterment of myself, it is

Motivation is giving somebody a reason or incentive to do something. It can be intrinsic or extrinsic. Intrinsic motivation is focused by an awareness or satisfaction in the task itself and usually occurs within the person rather than relying on external force. Extrinsic motivation is from outside the individual. Some common extrinsic motivators are rewards or punishments like evaluations or money, pressure, and threat of reprimand. The key to an organization’s success is the motivation of the staff. It is clear

Over the years, motivation has been defined by many people, in many different ways. Hence, what is motivation? According to McShane & Glinow, motivation is defined as “the forces within a person that effect the direction, intensity, and persistence of voluntary behavior” (McShane & Glinow, 2011). The author’s further explained, “motivated employees will exert a certain level of effort (intensity), for a certain amount of time (persistence), to obtain a particular goal (direction)” or in other words, employees are essentially “goal-directed” (McShane & Glinow, 2011). Although goals play an important part of employee motivation in the workplace it doesn’t necessarily mean that their only goals are professional in nature. Employees can also be motivated to achieve personal goals within themselves, which could include receiving an educational degree or obtaining additional knowledge, skills and abilities for self-improvement.

What is motivation? Motivation is defined as “an individual’s willingness to respond to the organization’s requirements in short run.” (P.71 Dixon, 1998) For the purposes of this research paper, I find the most fitting definition of motivation is to define it as “the force that Energizes, Directs, and Sustains behavior.” (uri.com, 2014) Motivation is imperative to productivity. A highly motivated staff often leads to high productivity from the workforce.

‘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,

Motivation is one of the most frequently researched topics on organizational behaviour according to Robbins, Judge Millett & Walters-Marsh (2008). Motivation among other things is about an individual’s persistence of effort towards attaining a goal.

Motivation: Motivation can be defined as a stimulation, inspiring and inducing the employees to perform to their best capacity. Motivation is psychological terms which means it cannot be forced on employees. It comes automatically from inside the employees as it is the willingness to do the work.

Motivation as a word draws its authentic meaning from the Latin word ‘movere’ meaning to move. Motivation transitions us from a dull state to being enthusiastic and interested. As a positive and implicit force, motivation shapes the path of our behavior, energizes the behavior and elicits the normality to uphold it. The definition clearly points out that an individual must be passably energized and enthused and must be willing to patiently and enduringly implement their energy in realizing the set goals. While motivation may seem like a personal call, managers should not presume that their labor force would naturally tap in and individually attend to the call. Therefore, the first elementary roles of managers should be to motivate the labor force to work toward realizing the firm’s goals and their individual goals.