Understanding motivation
(Originally published on the OUBS Blog)
You are in a position to influence motivation of people. To look at your own motivation one should look back at particular events in the past that stand out in memory ( critical incident analysis ).
In the 1920s there were the Hawthorne Studies (often associated with Elton Mayo) which went into the social needs model. Their main findings were that basic social needs can be met through work and that people respond more to pressure in their own social group. This resulted in the understanding that managers need to help employees to meet their social needs.
This theory was further developed in 1954 by Maslow in the hierarchy of needs which were simplified by Huczynski and Buchanan in 1991.
\- Physical Needs: working conditions, wage, housing, catering,…
\- Safety: health insurance, pension provision, safety, security in job
\- Social: sports, clubs, parties, outings, open communications, …
\- Esteem: Regular positive feedback, prestigious job titles, promotions
\- Self-actualisation: challenging, encouraging, can structure own work
Problems are said to be that our priorities change depending on our stage in life and it was more focussed on (male) Western society.
Another theory comes from Herzberg et al which said that improvement in some areas remove dissatisfaction ( hygiene factors ) and some can prove to be satisfying ( motivation factors ).
Analogy: Good hygiene can prevent you from becoming ill but will not normally improve your health.
Important points:
\- responsibility grows satisfactions
\- effective policies, procedures, environment and good pay can reduce dissatisfaction
The problem here is that again people change over time and you do not understand the link between people and their satisfaction.
Expectancy theory stresses that it is not just having a reward or incentive that is important but rather the link between effort and reward. The link needs to be clear.
Effort