One of the most important factors that lead one to their goals is the drive.

This drive is known as

motivation. It is a zest and determination with a kind of excitement that leads one to persevere to
reach greater heights, in no matter what avenue of their life; be it – personal or professional. The
drive may come from an internal or external source. The individual determines this.

For every individual there is a variable driving force. In fact, it is not just a single factor, but a
combination of factors that lead people to achieve their goals.

Motivation is to inspire people to work, individually or in groups in the ways such as to

produce best results. It is the will to act. It is the willingness to exert high levels of effort
towards organizational goals, conditioned by the efforts and ability to satisfy some individual
need.

Motivation is getting somebody to do something because they want to do it. It was once
assumed that motivation had to be injected from outside, but it is now understood that
everyone is motivated by several differing forces.

Motivation is a general term applied to the entire class of drives, desires, needs, wishes and
similar forces.

Individuals differ in their basic motivational drives. It also depends upon their areas of interest. The
concept of motivation is situational and its level varies between different individuals and at different
times. If you understand what motivates people, you have at your command the most powerful tool
for dealing with them.

Nearly all the conscious behavior of human being is motivated. The internal needs and drives lead to
tensions, which in turn result into actions. The need for food results into hunger and hence a person
is motivated to eat.
In the initiation a person starts feeling lacknesses. There is an arousal of need so urgent, that the
bearer has to venture in search to satisfy it. This leads to creation of tension, which urges the person
to forget everything else and cater to the aroused need first. This tension also creates drives and
attitudes regarding the type of satisfaction that is desired. This leads a person to venture into the
search of information. This ultimately leads to evaluation of alternatives where the best alternative
is chosen. After choosing the alternative, an action is taken. Because of the performance of the
activity satisfaction is achieved which than relieves the tension in the individual.

Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation

Intrinsic motivation refers to motivation that is driven by an interest or enjoyment in the

task itself, and exists within the individual rather than relying on any external pressure.

Extrinsic motivation comes from outside of the individual. Common extrinsic motivations are
rewards like money and grades, coercion and threat of punishment. Competition is in general
extrinsic because it encourages the performer to win and beat others, not to enjoy the intrinsic
rewards of the activity. A crowd cheering on the individual and trophies are also extrinsic incentives.

SOME MOTIVATION THEORIES

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.

Self
Actualization
needs

Esteem needs

Social needs

Safety and Security needs

Physiological needs

As each of these needs is 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.

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.

Examples of Hygiene factors are :

Security, status, relationship with subordinates, personal life, salary, work conditions,
relationship with supervisor and company policy and administration.

Examples of Motivational factors are :

Growth prospectus, job advancement, responsibility, challenges, recognition and

achievements.
Drive-reduction theories

There are a number of drive theories. The Drive Reduction Theory grows out of the concept
that we have certain biological drives, such as hunger. As time passes the strength of the
drive increases if it is not satisfied (in this case by eating). Upon satisfying a drive the drive's
strength is reduced. Drive theory has some intuitive or folk validity. For instance when
preparing food, the drive model appears to be compatible with sensations of rising hunger as
the food is prepared, and, after the food has been consumed, a decrease in subjective hunger.

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.