Motivation Theories

Contribution of Robert Owen :
Though Owen is considered to be paternalistic in his view, his contribution is of a considerable significance in the theories of Motivation. During the early years of the nineteenth century, Owen’s textile mill at New Lanark in Scotland was the scene of some novel ways of treating people. His view was that people were similar to machines. A machine that is looked after properly, cared for and maintained well, performs efficiently, reliably and lastingly, similarly people are likely to be more efficient if they are taken care of. Robert Owen practiced what he preached and introduced such things as employee housing and company shop. His ideas on this and other matters were considered to be too revolutionary for that time.

Jeremy Bentham’s “The Carrot and the Stick Approach” :
Possibly the essence of the traditional view of people at work can be best appreciated by a brief look at the work of this English philosopher, whose ideas were also developed in the early years of the Industrial Revolution, around 1800. Bentham’s view was that all people are self-interested and are motivated by the desire to avoid pain and find pleasure. Any worker will work only if the reward is big enough, or the punishment sufficiently unpleasant. This view - the ‘carrot and stick’ approach - was built into the philosophies of the age and is still to be found, especially in the older, more traditional sectors of industry.

The various leading theories of motivation and motivators seldom make reference to the carrot and the stick. This metaphor relates, of course, to the use of rewards and penalties in order to induce desired behavior. It comes from the old story that to make a donkey move, one must put a carrot in front of him or dab him with a stick from behind. Despite all the research on the theories of motivation, reward and punishment are still considered strong motivators. For centuries, however, they were too often thought of as the only forces that could motivate people.
At the same time, in all theories of motivation, the inducements of some kind of ‘carrot’ are recognized. Often this is money in the form of pay or bonuses. Even though money is not the only motivating force, it has been and will continue to be an important one. The trouble with the money ‘carrot’ approach is that too often everyone gets a carrot, regardless of performance through such practices as salary increase and promotion by seniority, automatic ‘merit’ increases, and executive bonuses not based on individual manager performance. It is as simple as this : If a person put a donkey in a pen full of carrots and then stood outside with a carrot, would the donkey be encouraged to come out of the pen ?

The ‘stick’, in the form of fear–fear of loss of job, loss of income, reduction of bonus, demotion, or some other penalty–has been and continues to be a strong motivator. Yet it is admittedly not the best kind. It often gives rise to defensive or retaliatory behavior, such as union organization, poor-quality work, executive indifference, failure of a manager to take any risks in decision making or even dishonesty. But fear of penalty cannot be overlooked. Whether managers are first-level supervisors or chief executives, the power of their position to give or with hold rewards or impose penalties of various kinds gives them an ability to control, to a very great extent, the economic and social well-being of their subordinates.

Abraham Maslow’s “Need Hierarchy Theory” :
One of the most widely mentioned theories of motivation is the hierarchy of needs theory put forth by psychologist Abraham Maslow. Maslow saw human needs in the form of a hierarchy, ascending from the lowest to the highest, and he concluded that when one set of needs is satisfied, this kind of need ceases to be a motivator.

As per his theory this needs are :

(i) Physiological needs :
These are important needs for sustaining the human life. Food, water, warmth, shelter, sleep, medicine and education are the basic physiological needs which fall in the primary list of need satisfaction. Maslow was of an opinion that until these needs were satisfied to a degree to maintain life, no other motivating factors can work.

(ii) Security or Safety needs :
These are the needs to be free of physical danger and of the fear of losing a job, property, food or shelter. It also includes protection against any emotional harm.

(iii) Social needs :
Since people are social beings, they need to belong and be accepted by others. People try to satisfy their need for affection, acceptance and friendship.

(iv) Esteem needs :
According to Maslow, once people begin to satisfy their need to belong, they tend to want to be held in esteem both by themselves and by others. This kind of need produces such satisfaction as power, prestige status and self-confidence. It includes both internal esteem factors like self-respect, autonomy and achievements and external esteem factors such as states, recognition and attention.

(v) Need for self-actualization :
Maslow regards this as the highest need in his hierarchy. It is the drive to become what one is capable of becoming, it includes growth, achieving one’s potential and self-fulfillment. It is to maximize one’s potential and to accomplish something.

As each of these needs are substantially satisfied, the next need becomes dominant. From the standpoint of motivation, the theory would say that although no need is ever fully gratified, a substantially satisfied need no longer motivates. So if you want to motivate someone, you need to understand what level of the hierarchy that person is on and focus on satisfying those needs or needs above that level.

Maslow’s need theory has received wide recognition, particularly among practicing managers. This can be attributed to the theory’s intuitive logic and ease of understanding. However, research does not validate these theory. Maslow provided no empirical evidence and other several studies that sought to validate the theory found no support for it.

“Theory X and Theory Y” of Douglas McGregor :
McGregor, in his book “The Human side of Enterprise” states that people inside the organization can be managed in two ways. The first is basically negative, which falls under the category X and the other is basically positive, which falls under the category Y. After viewing the way in which the manager dealt with employees, McGregor concluded that a manager’s view of the nature of human beings is based on a certain grouping of assumptions and that he or she tends to mold his or her behavior towards subordinates according to these assumptions.

Under the assumptions of theory X :

*Employees inherently do not like work and whenever possible, will attempt to avoid it.
*Because employees dislike work, they have to be forced, coerced or threatened with punishment to achieve goals.
*Employees avoid responsibilities and do not work fill formal directions are issued.
*Most workers place a greater importance on security over all other factors and display little ambition.

In contrast under the assumptions of theory Y :

*Physical and mental effort at work is as natural as rest or play.
*People do exercise self-control and self-direction and if they are committed to those goals.
*Average human beings are willing to take responsibility and exercise imagination, ingenuity and creativity in solving the problems of the organization.
*That the way the things are organized, the average human being’s brainpower is only partly used.

On analysis of the assumptions it can be detected that theory X assumes that lower-order needs dominate individuals and theory Y assumes that higher-order needs dominate individuals. An organization that is run on Theory X lines tends to be authoritarian in nature, the word “authoritarian” suggests such ideas as the “power to enforce obedience” and the “right to command.” In contrast Theory Y organizations can be described as “participative”, where the aims of the organization and of the individuals in it are integrated; individuals can achieve their own goals best by directing their efforts towards the success of the organization.

However, this theory has been criticized widely for generalization of work and human behavior.

Contribution of Rensis Likert :
Likert developed a refined classification, breaking down organizations into four management systems.

1st System – Primitive authoritarian

2nd System – Benevolent authoritarian

3rd System – Consultative

4th System – Participative

As per the opinion of Likert, the 4th system is the best, not only for profit organizations, but also for non-profit firms.

Frederick Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory :
Frederick has tried to modify Maslow’s need Hierarchy theory. His theory is also known as two-factor theory or Hygiene theory. He stated that there are certain satisfiers and dissatisfiers for employees at work. In- trinsic factors are related to job satisfaction, while extrinsic factors are associated with dissatisfaction. He devised his theory on the question : “What do people want from their jobs ?” He asked people to describe in detail, such situations when they felt exceptionally good or exceptionally bad. From the responses that he received, he concluded that opposite of satisfaction is not dissatisfaction. Removing dissatisfying characteristics from a job does not necessarily make the job satisfying. He states that presence of certain factors in the organization is natural and the presence of the same does not lead to motivation. However, their nonpresence leads to demotivation. In similar manner there are certain factors, the absence of which causes no dissatisfaction, but their presence has motivational impact.

Contributions of Elton Mayo :
The work of Elton Mayo is famously known as “Hawthorne Experiments.” He conducted behavioral experiments at the Hawthorne Works of the American Western Electric Company in Chicago. He made some illumination experiments, introduced breaks in between the work performance and also introduced refreshments during the pause’s. On the basis of this he drew the conclusions that motivation was a very complex subject. It was not only about pay, work condition and morale but also included psychological and social factors. Although this research has been criticized from many angles, the central conclusions drawn were :

*People are motivated by more than pay and conditions.
*The need for recognition and a sense of belonging are very important.
*Attitudes towards work are strongly influenced by the group.

Clayton Alderfer’s ERG Theory :

Alderfer has tried to rebuild the hierarchy of needs of Maslow into another model named ERG i.e. Existence – Relatedness – Growth. According to him there are 3 groups of core needs as mentioned above. The existence group is concerned mainly with providing basic material existence. The second group is the individuals need to maintain interpersonal relationship with other members in the group. The final group is the intrinsic desire to grow and develop personally. The major conclusions of this theory are :

*In an individual, more than one need may be operative at the same time.
*If a higher need goes unsatisfied than the desire to satisfy a lower need intensifies.
*It also contains the frustration-regression dimension.

McClelland’s Theory of Needs :

David McClelland has developed a theory on three types of motivating needs :

Need for Power
Need for Affiliation
Need for Achievement

Basically people for high need for power are inclined towards influence and control. They like to be at the center and are good orators. They are demanding in nature, forceful in manners and ambitious in life. They can be motivated to perform if they are given key positions or power positions.

In the second category are the people who are social in nature. They try to affiliate themselves with individuals and groups. They are driven by love and faith. They like to build a friendly environment around themselves. Social recognition and affiliation with others provides them motivation.

People in the third area are driven by the challenge of success and the fear of failure. Their need for achievement is moderate and they set for themselves moderately difficult tasks. They are analytical in nature and take calculated risks. Such people are motivated to perform when they see atleast some chances of success.

McClelland observed that with the advancement in hierarchy the need for power and achievement increased rather than Affiliation. He also observed that people who were at the top, later ceased to be motivated by this drives.

Reinforcement Theory :
B.F. Skinner, who propounded the reinforcement theory, holds that by designing the environment properly, individuals can be motivated. Instead of considering internal factors like impressions, feelings, attitudes and other cognitive behavior, individuals are directed by what happens in the environment external to them. Skinner states that work environment should be made suitable to the individuals and that punishments actually leads to frustration and de-motivation. Hence, the only way to motivate is to keep on making positive changes in the external environment of the organization.

Goal Setting Theory of Edwin Locke :
Instead of giving vague tasks to people, specific and pronounced objectives, help in achieving them faster. As the clearity is high, a goal orientation also avoids any misunderstandings in the work of the employees. The goal setting theory states that when the goals to be achieved are set at a higher standard than in that case employees are motivated to perform better and put in maximum effort. It revolves around the concept of “Self-efficacy” i.e. individual’s belief that he or she is capable of performing a hard task.

Cognitive Evaluation Theory :
As per these theory a shift from external rewards to internal rewards results into motivation. It believes that even after the stoppage of external stimulus, internal stimulus survives. It relates to the pay structure in the organization. Instead of treating external factors like pay, incentives, promotion etc and internal factors like interests, drives, responsibility etc, separately, they should be treated as contemporary to each other. The cognition is to be such that even when external motivators are not there the internal motivation continues. However, practically extrinsic rewards are given much more weightage.

Motivating Manager

(1) Treat staff well :
Subordinates have to be treated with diligence. The manager has to stay friendly as well as maintain a level of distance with his staff. It’s a tricky ground to tread. The staff looks up on the manager as their leader. They expect maturity, rationality and understanding from their superiors. Simple things like calling people by their first name, chatting about their families for a while or even a general inquiry about their well-being, brings in a feeling of belongingness. Small gestures of this type help in building up of a cordial relationship.

(2) Think like a winner :
A manager has to handle two situations, “The Winning” and “The loosing”. The crux is to think like a winner even when all the odds seem against you. It is necessary to equip yourself with all the tools of a winner. Always remember that winning and loosing rotate in a cycle. If you have been loosing from a long time you are very near the winning edge.

(3) Recognize the differences :
All the employees in the organization vibrate to a different pace. A treatment that motivates one may demotivation the other. Understanding the difference in temperament in between the individuals is important.

4) Set realistic goals :
Set moderate goals. Setting too high a task creates a feeling of non-achievement, right from the beginning itself. The goals set should be such which seem feasible to the employees to be achieved. A slightly higher target than expected provides a challenge.

(5) Prevent Demotivation :
A job of the manager is to motivate people. His task requires him to punish and penalize people. This might create resentment in the mind of the staff members, which may affect the productivity of the workforce. Henceforth, care should be taken, that punishment and penalties are used as a controlling technique and that they do not demotivation.

(6) Job-financial enrichment and small job changes are handy :
To make job more effective and to break the monotonous routine, small task additions and minor changes are always welcome. Even small suggestions of the manager seem valuable to the employees. A few challenges in the same job can enrich it.

(7) Non-financial rewards :
Monetary rewards have always had a high motivational capacity. But non-monetary rewards are equally helpful. A thank you note, a letter of appreciation or even few words of praise can help smoothen the creases between the different levels of management.

Motivation and Satisfaction

Motivation refers to the drive and efforts to satisfy a want or goal, whereas satisfaction refers to the contentment experienced when a want is satisfied. In contrast, inspiration is bringing about a change in the thinking pattern. On the other hand Manipulation is getting the things done from others in a predetermined manner.

Hence, manipulation or external stimulus as well as inspiration or internal stimulus acts as carriers of either demotivation or motivation which in turn either results into dissatisfaction or satisfaction depending upon.

Types of Motivation

1) Achievement Motivation
It is the drive to pursue and attain goals. An individual with achievement motivation wishes to achieve objectives and advance up on the ladder of success. Here, accomplishment is important for its own shake and not for the rewards that accompany it. It is similar to ‘Kaizen’ approach of Japanese Management.

(2) Affiliation Motivation
It is a drive to relate to people on a social basis. Persons with affiliation motivation perform work better when they are complimented for their favorable attitudes and co-operation.

(3) Competence Motivation
It is the drive to be good at something, allowing the individual to perform high quality work. Competence motivated people seek job mastery, take pride in developing and using their problem-solving skills and strive to be creative when confronted with obstacles. They learn from their experience.

(4) Power Motivation
It is the drive to influence people and change situations. Power motivated people wish to create an impact on their organization and are willing to take risks to do so.

(5) Attitude Motivation
Attitude motivation is how people think and feel. It is their self confidence, their belief in themselves, their attitude to life. It is how they feel about the future and how they react to the past.

6) Incentive Motivation
It is where a person or a team reaps a reward from an activity. It is “You do this and you get that”, attitude. It is the types of awards and prizes that drive people to work a little harder.

(7) Fear Motivation
Fear motivation coercions a person to act against will. It is instantaneous and gets the job done quickly. It is helpful in the short run.

MOTIVATING DIFFERENT PEOPLE IN DIFFERENT WAYS

Motivation is not only in a single direction i.e. downwards. In the present scenario, where the workforce is more informed, more aware, more educated and more goal oriented, the role of motivation has left the boundries of the hierarchy of management. Apart from superior motivating a subordinate, encouragement and support to colleague as well as helpful suggestions on the right time, even to the superior, brings about a rapport at various work levels. Besides, where workforce is self motivated, just the acknowledgement of the same makes people feel important and wanted.

Tips for Self Motivation

If you want to make things happen the ability to motivate yourself and others is a crucial skill. At work, home, and everywhere in between, people use motivation to get results. Motivation requires a delicate balance of communication, structure, and incentives. These 21 tactics will help you maximize motivation in yourself and others.

Motivation

1. Consequences - Never use threats. They’ll turn people against you. But making people aware of the negative consequences of not getting results (for everyone involved) can have a big impact. This one is also big for self motivation. If you don’t get your act together, will you ever get what you want?

2. Pleasure - This is the old carrot on a stick technique. Providing pleasurable rewards creates eager and productive people.

3. Performance incentives - Appeal to people’s selfish nature. Give them the opportunity to earn more for themselves by earning more for you.

4. Detailed instructions - If you want a specific result, give specific instructions. People work better when they know exactly what’s expected

5. Short and long term goals - Use both short and long term goals to guide the action process and create an overall philosophy.

6. Kindness - Get people on your side and they’ll want to help you. Piss them off and they’ll do everything they can to screw you over.

7. Deadlines - Many people are most productive right before a big deadline. They also have a hard time focusing until that deadline is looming overhead. Use this to your advantage by setting up a series of mini-deadlines building up to an end result.

8. Team Spirit - Create an environment of camaraderie. People work more effectively when they feel like part of team — they don’t want to let others down.

10. Recognize achievement - Make a point to recognize achievements one-on-one and also in group settings. People like to see that their work isn’t being ignored.

11. Personal stake - Think about the personal stake of others. What do they need? By understanding this you’ll be able to keep people happy and productive.

12. Concentrate on outcomes - No one likes to work with someone standing over their shoulder. Focus on outcomes — make it clear what you want and cut people loose to get it done on their own.

13. Trust and Respect - Give people the trust and respect they deserve and they’ll respond to requests much more favorably.

14. Create challenges - People are happy when they’re progressing towards a goal. Give them the opportunity to face new and difficult problems and they’ll be more enthusiastic.

15. Let people be creative - Don’t expect everyone to do things your way. Allowing people to be creative creates a more optimistic environment and can lead to awesome new ideas.

16. Constructive criticism - Often people don’t realize what they’re doing wrong. Let them know. Most people want to improve and will make an effort once they know how to do it.

17. Demand improvement - Don’t let people stagnate. Each time someone advances raise the bar a little higher (especially for yourself).

18. Make it fun - Work is most enjoyable when it doesn’t feel like work at all. Let people have fun and the positive environment will lead to better results.

19. Create opportunities - Give people the opportunity to advance. Let them know that hard work will pay off.

20. Communication - Keep the communication channels open. By being aware of potential problems you can fix them before a serious dispute arises.

21. Make it stimulating - Mix it up. Don’t ask people to do the same boring tasks all the time. A stimulating environment creates enthusiasm and the opportunity for “big picture” thinking.

Overcome Motivation Barriers

Job Analysis
More emphasis on personnel specification and regression analysis to determine weightage on job related individual characteristics.

Human resource accounting
Accounting IQ, EQ, personality traits, aptitude profiles of each employee

Selection
Selecting right man for right place at the right time.

Attitude change
Employee as human system having specific needs, aptitudes, temperament, attitudes towards job and the organization.

Role clarity
Well defined job description and work roles. Introduce role drama for role understanding for both lower level employees and the managers.

Training
Periodical training to the employees about upgradation of skills, work role analysis and to the leaders about leadership development (communication, manipulation of incentives, decision making etc).

Survey
Periodical survey to study level of employee satisfaction , attitude towards organizational health and their relations to individual productivity and quality of working life for organizational diagnosis.. Introduce organization development programmes for attitude change in considering results of regression analysis.

Work culture
Introduce quality circle, suggestion box system, and intermingle organization to the life style of the employees.

Barriers of Employee Motivation

1.Attitude to employees

Considering employee as cog of the machine rather as a human system having unique needs, abilities, personality traits, values, aptitudes, skills etc.

2.Work Goal

Undefined, unachievable and unmeasurable

3.Path

Job responsibilities are undefined, unachievable, unmeasurable and unrelated to work goal.

4.Leadership

Leadership failure in manipulation of incentives.

5.Third party

Influence of informal communication systems through colleagues, unions and family members.

Motivating Working Environment

Motivating Work Environment

Make only the minimum number of rules and policies needed to protect your organization legally and create order in the work place.

Publish the rules and policies and educate all employees.

With the involvement of many employees, identify organizational values and write value statements and a professional code of conduct.

Develop guidelines for supervisors and educate them about the fair and consistent application of the few rules and policies.

Address individual dysfunctional behaviors on a “need-to” basis with counseling, progressive discipline, and performance improvement plans.

Clearly communicate work place expectations and guidelines for professional behavior.

Things to Remember-Motivation

Basic Principles to Remember

1. Motivating employees starts with motivating yourself It's amazing how, if you hate your job, it seems like everyone else does, too. If you are very stressed out, it seems like everyone else is, too. Enthusiasm is contagious. If you're enthusiastic about your job, it's much easier for others to be, too. Also, if you're doing a good job of taking care of yourself and your own job, you'll have much clearer perspective on how others are doing in theirs.

A great place to start learning about motivation is to start understanding your own motivations. The key to helping to motivate your employees is to understand what motivates them. So what motivates you? Consider, for example, time with family, recognition, a job well done, service, learning, etc. How is your job configured to support your own motivations? What can you do to better motivate yourself?

2. Always work to align goals of the organization with goals of employees As mentioned above, employees can be all fired up about their work and be working very hard. However, if the results of their work don't contribute to the goals of the organization, then the organization is not any better off than if the employees were sitting on their hands -- maybe worse off! Therefore, it's critical that managers and supervisors know what they want from their employees. These preferences should be worded in terms of goals for the organization. Identifying the goals for the organization is usually done during strategic planning. Whatever steps you take to support the motivation of your employees (various steps are suggested below), ensure that employees have strong input to identifying their goals and that these goals are aligned with goals of the organization. (Goals should be worded to be "SMARTER". More about this later on below.)

3. Key to supporting the motivation of your employees is understanding what motivates each of them Each person is motivated by different things. Whatever steps you take to support the motivation of your employees, they should first include finding out what it is that really motivates each of your employees. You can find this out by asking them, listening to them and observing them. (More about this later on below.)

4. Recognize that supporting employee motivation is a process, not a task Organizations change all the time, as do people. Indeed, it is an ongoing process to sustain an environment where each employee can strongly motivate themselves. If you look at sustaining employee motivation as an ongoing process, then you'll be much more fulfilled and motivated yourself.

5. Support employee motivation by using organizational systems (for example, policies and procedures) -- don't just count on good intentions Don't just count on cultivating strong interpersonal relationships with employees to help motivate them. The nature of these relationships can change greatly, for example, during times of stress. Instead, use reliable and comprehensive systems in the workplace to help motivate employees. For example, establish compensation systems, employee performance systems, organizational policies and procedures, etc., to support employee motivation. Also, establishing various systems and structures helps ensure clear understanding and equitable treatment of employees.

10 better ways to motivate employees

motivation example 1 - 'everyone is like me'

One of the most common assumptions we make is that the individuals who work for us are motivated by the same factors as us. Perhaps you are motivated by loyalty to the company, enjoying a challenge, proving yourself to others or making money. One great pitfall is to try to motivate others by focusing on what motivates you.

Marie, a director in her company, was being coached. She was a perfectionist. Every day she pushed herself to succeed and was rewarded with recognition from her peers. But she was unable to get the same standard of work from her team members. In the first few weeks of her coaching she would say, "If only people realised how important it was to put in 110% and how good it felt to get the acknowledgment, then they would start to feel more motivated".

But it wasn't working. Instead people were starting to become resentful towards Marie's approach. Acknowledgment was a prime motivator for Marie so to help her consider some other options, she was helped to brainstorm what else might motivate people in their work. Marie's list grew: 'learning new skills', 'accomplishing a goal as part of a team', 'creativity', 'achieving work-life balance', 'financial rewards' and 'the adrenaline rush of working to tight deadlines'. Marie began to see that perhaps her team were indeed motivated - it was simply that the team members were motivated in a different ways to her own.

If the leader can tap into and support the team members' own motivations then the leader begins to help people to realise their full potential.

motivation example 2 - 'no-one is like me'

Since the 1980's, research has shown that although we know that we are motivated by meaningful and satisfying work (which is supported by Herzberg's timeless theory on the subject, and virtually all sensible research ever since), we assume others are motivated mainly by financial rewards. Chip Heath, associate professor at Stanford University carried out research that found most people believe that others are motivated by 'extrinsic rewards', such as pay or job security, rather than 'intrinsic motivators', like a desire to learn new skills or to contribute to an organisation.

Numerous surveys show that most people are motivated by intrinsic factors, and in this respect we are mostly all the same.

Despite this, while many leaders recognise that their own motivation is driven by factors that have nothing to do with money, they make the mistake of assuming that their people are somehow different, and that money is central to their motivation.

If leaders assume that their team members only care about their pay packet, or their car, or their monthly bonus, this inevitably produces a faulty and unsustainable motivational approach.
Leaders must recognise that people are different only in so far as the different particular 'intrinsic' factor(s) which motivate each person, but in so far as we are all motivated by 'intrinsic' factors, we are all the same.

motivation example 3 - 'people don't listen to me'

When some people talk, nearly everyone listens: certain politicians, business leaders, entertainers; people we regard as high achievers. You probably know people a little like this too. You may not agree with what they say, but they have a presence, a tone of voice and a confidence that is unmistakable. Fundamentally these people are great sales-people. They can make an unmitigated disaster sound like an unqualified victory. But do you need to be like this to motivate and lead?

Certainly not. Many people make the mistake of thinking that the only people who can lead others to success and achieve true excellence, and are the high-profile, charismatic, 'alpha-male/female' types. This is not true.

motivation example 5 - 'but I am listening'

We are always told how valuable listening is as a leadership tool and encouraged to do more of it. So, when we remember, we listen really hard, trying to catch every detail of what is being said and maybe follow up with a question to show that we caught everything. This is certainly important. Checking your email, thinking about last night's big game and planning your weekend certainly stop you from hearing what is being said.

But there is another important aspect to listening and that is: Listening Without Judgement.
Often when an employee tells us why they are lacking motivation we are busy internally making notes about what is wrong with what they are saying. This is pre-judging. It is not listening properly.

Really listening properly means shutting off the voice in your head that is already planning your counter-argument, so that you can actually hear, understand and interpret what you are being told. See the principles of empathy.

This is not to say that 'the employee is always right', but only when you can really understand the other person's perception of the situation are you be able to help them develop a strategy that works for them.

Listening is about understanding how the other person feels - beyond merely the words that they say.

motivation example 6 - 'if they leave I've failed'

What happens if, at their meeting, Bob admits to Frank that he doesn't see his future with that company?

What if he says the main reason he is demotivated is that he isn't really suited to the company culture, and would be happier elsewhere? Has Frank failed?

Not necessarily. It's becoming more widely accepted that the right and sustainable approach is to help individual employees to tap in to their true motivators and understand their core values. Katherine Benziger's methodologies are rooted in this philosophy: Employees who 'falsify type' (ie., behave unnaturally in order to satisfy external rather than internal motives and drivers) are unhappy, stressed, and are unable to sustain good performance.

Effort should be focused on helping people to align company goals with individual aspirations. Look at Adam's Equity Theory to help understand the complexity of personal motivation and goals alignment. Motivation and goals cannot be imposed from outside by a boss - motivation and goals must be determined from within the person, mindful of internal needs, and external opportunities and rewards.

Sometimes the person and the company are simply unsuited. In a different culture, industry, role or team that individual would be energised and dedicated, whereas in the present environment the same person doesn't fit.

Sometimes 'success' doesn't look the way we expect it to. A successful outcome for an individual and for a company may be that a demotivated person, having identified what sort of work and environment would suit them better, leaves to find their ideal job elsewhere.

You succeed as a leader by helping and enabling people to reach their potential and to achieve fulfilment. If their needs and abilities could be of far greater value elsewhere, let them go; don't force them to stay out of loyalty. Helping them identify and find a more fitting role elsewhere not only benefits you and them - it also enables you to find a replacement who is really suited and dedicated to the job.

True leaders care about the other person's interests - not just your own interests and the interests of your organization.

motivation example 7 - 'the same factors that demotivate, motivate'

When asked what brought about lack of motivation at work, the majority of people in research carried out by Herzberg blamed 'hygiene factors' such as working conditions, salary and company policy. When asked what motivated them they gave answers such as 'the sense of achievement', 'recognition', 'the opportunity to grow and advance' and 'greater responsibility'.
Herzberg's findings about human motivation have been tested and proven time and gain. His theory, and others like it, tell us that the factors that demotivate do not necessarily motivate when reversed.

The conventional solution to dissatisfaction over pay levels would be to increase pay in the belief that people would then work harder and be more motivated. However, this research shows that whilst increasing wages, improving job security and positive working relationships have a marginal impact, the main factors that characterise extreme satisfaction at work are: achievement, recognition, interesting work, responsibility, advancement and growth.
So it follows that leaders who focus on these aspects - people's true motivational needs and values - are the true leaders.

motivation example 8 - 'people will rise to tough challenges'

Many managers hope to motivate by setting their people challenging targets. They believe that raising the bar higher and higher is what motivates.

Tracey was an effective and conscientious account manager. Her boss habitually set her increasingly tough objectives, which Tracey generally achieved. However, in achieving her targets last month Tracey worked several eighteen-hour days, travelled extensively overseas, and had not had a single weekend break. Sometimes Tracey would mention to her boss that the effort was taking its toll on her health and happiness.

When Tracey handed in her latest monthly report, her boss said, 'You see? It's worth all the hard work. So, don't complain about it again.'

Her boss's belief was that Tracey would get a sense of satisfaction from completing an almost impossible workload. He was relying on her sense of duty - which she had in bucket-loads - to get the job done.

But this is the KITA style of motivation. It doesn't really acknowledge a dedication to the job or a sense of pride. Its leverage or 'motivation' is simply a lack of choice.
Job enlargement is different to Job enhancement. Herzberg's research shows that improving the 'meaningfulness' of a job (see also motivation example 7) has the motivational impact, not simply increasing the amount of pressure or volume of the tasks.

motivation example 9 - 'I tried it and it didn't work'

When you try new things - new motivational ideas, especially which affect relationships and feelings - it is normal for things initially to get a little worse. Change can be a little unsettling at first. But keep the faith.

People are naturally sceptical of unconventional motivational approaches. They may wonder why you have suddenly taken such an interest in them. They may feel you are giving them too much responsibility or be concerned that changes in the way they work may lead to job losses. Herzberg's research is among other evidence, and modern experience, that after an initial drop in performance, people quickly adjust and respond to more progressive management and motivational attitudes.

Supporting and coaching people through this stage of early doubt is vital.
Encourage and help people to grow and develop, and performance improvement is inevitable.

motivation example 10 - 'this type of motivation takes too much time'

If you've absorbed the ideas above, you might wonder where you would find the time to motivate people using these approaches.

It is true that this style of leadership, sustainable motivation, commitment and focus is in the beginning more time consuming than 'KITA' methods; this is bound to be, since KITA methods require far less thought.

Engaging fully with your staff, understanding their wants, desires and values, getting to know them as individuals and developing strategies that achieve a continuous release of energy is more intensive and takes time to work.

But consider the advantages. This investment of time means you will eventually have less to do. Instead of constantly urging your people along and having to solve all the problems yourself, you'll be the leader of a group performing at a higher level of ability and productivity, giving you the chance to step back from fire-fighting and to consider the bigger picture.

Your responsibility as leader is to develop your team so that it can take on more and more of your own responsibility. A mature team should be virtully self-managing, leaving you free to concentrate on all the job-enhancing strategic aspects that you yourself need in order to keep motivated and developing.

Questionnaires on employee motivation

1. What is the 'primary aim' of your company?

Your employees may be more motivated if they understand the primary aim of your business. Ask questions to establish how clear they are about your company's principles, priorities and mission.

2. What obstacles stop employees performing to best effect?
Questionnaires on employee motivation should include questions about what employees are tolerating in their work and home lives. The company can eliminate practices that zap motivation.

3.What really motivates your staff?
It is often assumed that all people are motivated by the same things. Actually we are motivated by a whole range of factors. Include questions to elicit what really motivates employees, including learning about their values. Are they motivated by financial rewards, status, praise and acknowledgment, competition, job security, public recognition, fear, perfectionism, results...

4. Do employees feel empowered?
Do your employees feel they have job descriptions that give them some autonomy and allow them to find their own solutions or are they given a list of tasks to perform and simply told what to do?

5.Are there any recent changes in the company that might have affected motivation?
If your company has made redundancies, imposed a recruitment freeze or lost a number of key people this will have an effect on motivation. Collect information from employees about their fears, thoughts and concerns relating to these events. Even if they are unfounded, treat them with respect and honesty.

6. What are the patterns of motivation in your company?
Who is most motivated and why? What lessons can you learn from patches of high and low motivation in your company?

7.Are employee goals and company goals aligned?
First, the company needs to establish how it wants individuals to spend their time based on what is most valuable. Secondly this needs to be compared with how individuals actually spend their time. You may find employees are highly motivated but about the "wrong" priorities.

8. How do employees feel about the company?
Do they feel safe, loyal, valued and taken care of? Or do they feel taken advantage of, dispensable and invisible? Ask them what would improve their loyalty and commitment.

9.How involved are employees in company development?
Do they feel listened to and heard? Are they consulted? And, if they are consulted, are their opinions taken seriously? Are there regular opportunities for them to give feedback?

10. Is the company's internal image consistent with its external one?
Your company may present itself to the world as the 'caring airline', 'the forward thinking technology company' or the 'family hotel chain'. Your employees would have been influenced, and their expectations set, to this image when they joined your company. If you do not mirror this image within your company in the way you treat employees you may notice motivation problems. Find out what the disparity is between the employees image of the company from the outside and from the inside.

Motivation

Many contemporary authors have also defined the concept of motivation. Motivation has been defined as: the psychological process that gives behavior 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). For this paper, motivation is operationally defined as the inner force that drives individuals to accomplish personal and organizational goals.

motivation is defined as communicating to an internal force that actuates a behavioral pattern, thought process, action or reaction. Negative forces or positive forces can act as actuators.

In general it could include but is not limited to the use of words, circumstances, situations, and external and internal forces.

When used effectively by a speaker, this force can help individuals or groups work toward common goals and reach them.

Application of the definition of motivation is varied by socio-economic groups, culture, background, and the neural programming of our brains.

Negative and positive motivational forces could include coercion, desire, fear, influence and need. Depending on how coercion, fear and influence are framed, they could be either negative or positive forces that act as actuators. For instance a fear (negative force) of bodily injury could be a motivation to implement the use of safety equipment (positive force).

Motivation is simply - The reason for an action- That which gives purpose and direction to behaviour.

Motivation is “WHAT drives you” to behave in a certain way or to take a particular action. It is your WHY.

"Motivation towards better performance depends on the satisfaction of needs for responsibility, achievement, recognition and growth".

Quotes - Example use of the word motivation

1. the reason for the action
2. that which gives purpose and direction to behavior
3. we did not understand his motivation
4. he acted with the best of motives
5. providing incentive
6. his motivation was at a high level