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Motivational Theories

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Motivation
1 KEY THEORIES OF MOTIVATION
Motivation is the driving force behind human behaviour.

Motivation and human management Motivated people are those who have made a conscious decision to devote considerable effort to achieving something that they value. What they value will differ greatly from one individual to another. There are a variety of ways to motivate people, including the fear of losing a job, financial incentives, selffulfilment goals and goals for the organisation or groups within the organisation. The traditional view - finds some of its origins in the work of Taylor and the school of scientific management. At its most extreme, this view postulates the following: people dislike work people will only work for money people are not capable of controlling their work or directing themselves simple, repetitive tasks will produce the best results workers should be closely supervised and tightly controlled extra effort must lead to greater reward people will meet standards if they are closely controlled firm but fair supervision will be respected Taylor took the view that there is a right (meaning best) way to perform any task. It is management’s job to determine the right way. Workers gain from this approach because the ‘right way’ is easier and pay is enhanced as a result of increased productivity. The human relation view - originates in the work of Mayo, known as the Hawthorne Studies. The series of studies essentially concluded that the strongest motivational force behind most employees’ behaviour at work was the preservation and nurturing of social relationships with their colleagues. The main tenets of this view are as follows: people want to be made to feel valued and important people want recognition for their work people want to be controlled sensibly managers must discuss the plans they make for staff they must take any objections on board

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