Motivation Concepts Analysis
Anna Parks
PSY/320
4-29-14
Kelly Louis

Motivation Concepts Analysis
Employee motivation has always been a central problem for leaders and managers. Unmotivated employees are likely to spend little or no effort in their jobs, avoid the workplace as much as possible, exit the organization if given the opportunity and produce low quality work. On the other hand, employees who feel motivated to work are likely to be persistent, creative and productive, turning out high quality work that they willingly undertake. There has been a lot of research done on motivation by many scholars, but the behavior of groups of people to try to find out why it is that every employee of a company does not perform at their best has been comparatively unresearched. Many things can be said to answer this question; the reality is that every employee has different ways to become motivated. Employers need to get to know their employees very well and use different tactics to motivate each of them based on their personal wants and needs.
The dictionary Webster's defines motivation as something inside people that drives them to action. This motivation varies in different people. We can also say that motivation is the willingness to work at a certain level of effort. Motivation emerges, in current theories, out of needs, values, goals, intentions, and expectation. Because motivation comes from within, managers need to cultivate and direct the motivation that their employees already have.
Motivation comes from within us such as thoughts, beliefs, ambitions, and goals. The people who are most interested in motivation studies are managers of people because they may provide insights into why people perform at work as they do, and as a result provide managers with techniques to improve worker productivity.
His proposed research is needed to improve employees' performance at the workplace, to retain employees and to help companies establish a good image. If a company's employees do not acquire this motivation then the company could lose large amounts of money, customers or even go out of business. On the other hand if that company's employees are well trained and motivated by their employers it could have great income potential, keep loyal customers and gain a lot of market share.
This research would help many managers and leaders in our society to identify the things that they need to do in order to successfully motivate their employees to perform at their best. As a manager this knowledge will therefore help me to understand what new strategies I could implement in order to motivate employees to achieve optimal business results. It is evident that there is a need for this study because of the many companies that are constantly spending money on various ways to increase employee motivation.
The word motivation suggests energetic behavior directed toward some goal.
Instead of pushing solutions on people with the force of your argument, pull solutions out of them. You may be the cause of your employee's lack of motivation. Employee motivation is perhaps the ultimate management challenge. Although motivation is an important determinator of individual performance, it is not the only factor. Such variables as ability, experience, and environment also influence performance.
There has been a lot of research done on Motivation by many scholars. The following are only a few of the research topics that have been done on Motivation: Motivation theories, Ways to encourage employee motivation, Measures of Motivation, Principles of motivation, Ways of making your firm more exciting, How to motivate your people problem, The missing link in Strategic Performance, Salary is not a motivator anymore, How to effectively reward employees, Turning Motivation Theory into Practice, Measures of Motivation, Self Theories and Employee Motivation, How do you motivate employees, and Worker Motivation: Unsolved Problem or Untapped Resource?.
A multitude of studies have been done on motivation, but no one has ever done any studies on a group of employees and managers to test what their motives are and test to see which incentive program will suit the majority of employees. From the literature review one can see that a need for further research is necessary. This will help managers and leaders find out what it is that employees want from employers to perform at their best.
Research done in both psychology and business literature over the past three decades has recorded that motivation varies as a function of different factors in the work environment, including evaluation expectation, actual performance feedback, reward, autonomy, and the nature of the work itself. Moreover, both theory and empirical research have suggested that human motivation toward work can be categorized into two types: Intrinsic motivation, which comes from the intrinsic value of the work for the individual, and Extrinsic motivation, which comes from the desire to obtain some outcomes that are separate from the work itself.
When employees have high autonomy, receive feedback about their performance, and have an important, identifiable piece of work to do which requires skill variety, they may experience feelings of happiness and therefore intrinsic motivation to keep performing well (Hackmam & Oldham, 1980).

Frederick Herzberg, distinguished professor of Management at the University of Utah and Behavioral theorist conducted studies on worker motivation in the 1950's. He developed the Motivation-Hygiene theory of worker satisfaction and dissatisfaction. This incredible researcher concluded that hygiene factors such as salary, fringe benefits, and working conditions can prevent dissatisfaction, but they do not motivate the worker. He found that motivators such as achievement, recognition, responsibility, and advancement increase satisfaction from work and motivate people toward a greater effort and performance. Herzberg and other behavioral theorists were influenced by the writings of Abraham Maslow, a theoretical psychologist who analyzed what human beings seek in their lives and developed the Needs-Hierarchy concept.
Of the many theories of work motivation, Herzberg's (1966) motivator-hygiene theory has been one of the most influential in recent decades. Basically, the theory divides motivating factors into two categories: Motivator factors, which have something to do with the work itself, and Hygiene factors, which have something to do with the surrounding context.
Motivator factors include such things as responsible work, independence in doing the work, and satisfaction arising from the completion of challenging tasks. Hygiene factors include pay, security, and general working conditions. According to Frederick Herzberg, hygiene factor operate primarily as de-motivators if they are not sufficient. He suggests that workers are most satisfied and most productive when their jobs are rich in the motivator factor. When the work is interesting, he suggests can be accomplished by the job enrichment.
Hackman and Oldham's (1976) model of job enrichment propose that jobs can be made more motivating by increasing the following: skill variety (the number of different skills required by the job), task identity (the degree to which the job produces something meaningful), task significance (the importance of the work), autonomy (the degree to which the individual has freedom in deciding how to perform the job), and feedback (the degree to which the individual obtains ongoing.
Many of these same characteristics of the work, particularly independence and competence, are referred as intrinsic motivators by social psychologists and personality psychologists. Deci and his colleagues proposed that intrinsic motivation occurs when individuals feel both self-determined and competent in their work (Deci 1975; Deci & Ryan 1985). According to this research, people will feel competent if they obtain feedback that indicates progress in their work, or suggests way they can increase their competence.
One psychological view suggests that very high levels of intrinsic motivation are marked by such strong interest and involvement in the work, and by such a perfect match of task complexity with skill level, that people experience some kind of psychological "flow," a sense of merging with the activity they are doing.
The major psychological view suggests that extrinsic motivation works in opposition to intrinsic motivation (Deci 1975; Deci & Ryan 1985). Extrinsic motivation takes place when individuals feel driven by something outside of the work itself such as promised rewards or incentives. In general, these theorists suggest that, when strong extrinsic motivators are put to work, intrinsic motivation will decline.
The author of this study Dr. Teresa M. Ambile adopted definitions of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation that include a lot of the concepts proposed by previous theorists. Individuals are intrinsically motivated when they seek enjoyment, interest, satisfaction of curiosity, self-expression, or personal challenge in the work. Individuals are extrinsically motivated when they engage in the work in order to obtain some goal that is apart from work itself.
Motivation is based on growth needs. It is an internal engine, and its benefits show up over a long period of time. Because the ultimate reward in motivation is personal growth. The only way to motivate an employee is to give him challenging work for which he can assume responsibility. Human motivation is so complex and so important, successful management development for the next century must include theoretical and practical education about the types of motivation, their sources, their effects on performance, and their susceptibility to various influences. Employees are the company’ best assets. If employees are not as motivated, it will have a tremendous effect on productivity. The organization’s overall efficiency will decline by unmotivated employees. Managers may even need to hire additional employees to complete tasks that could be done by the existing force.
I believe that emotions are also involved in motivation. An employee who is easily emotional about situations may lack the stability to perform optimally. Motivation is also influenced but morale and attitude. Based on previous research done, under regular conditions, employees tend to work at only about two-thirds of their capacity. Motivation may also be influenced by the manager’s management style. If a manager is not liked, employees may function minimally.
Proper motivation of employees is directly associated with productivity and with maintenance factors. Workers who are content with their jobs, who feel challenged, who have the opportunity to fulfill their goals will exhibit less destructive behavior on the job. They will be absent less frequently, they will be less inclined to change jobs, and, most importantly, they will produce at a higher level.
To be a successful manager one must be a people mover, who motivates employees to increased productivity. Get to know your people well! Remember that people do things for their reasons. Try to understand where the person is coming from. We all have different motives. If employers do not recognize soon what are their employees’ motives they will be destined to lose some of their best people. Motivation is the most critical factor in productivity. Motivation is the key.

References 1. Staw, B.M. & Boettger, R.D. (1990). Task revision: A neglected form of work performance. Academy of Management Journal, 33, 534–59 2. Cameron, Kim & Quinn, Robert, (2006). Diagnosing and Changing Organizational Culture: Based on the Competing Values Framework. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. 3. Schaufeli, W. B., & Bakker, A. B. (2010), Defining and measuring work engagement:Bringing clarity to the concept. In A.B. Bakker & M.P. Leither (Eds.) 'work engagement:A handbook of essential theory and research' (pp10-24). New York: Psychological Press