Motivation Theories

YULIIA PEK AR, 506 GROUP

 Content

1 Hertzberg’s Two-Factor Theory

2 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

3 Hawthorne Effect

4 Expectancy Theory

5 Three-Dimensional Theory of Attribution

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1 Hertzberg’s Two-Factor Theory

Developed by Frederick Herzberg in the 1950s Achievement

Known as dual-factor theory or motivation-hygiene theory Recognition

Motivator factors The work itself

lead to satisfaction Responsibility

and motivate
employees to work Advancement
harder
Growth
2 factors
influence employee motivation and satisfaction
Company policies

Supervision

Relationships

Hygiene factors Work conditions

lead to Remuneration
dissatisfaction and a
F.Herzberg analysed 200 respondents’ (accountants and Salary
lack of motivation if
engineers) answers about their positive and negative feelings at
they are absent
their work Security

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1 Hertzberg’s Two-Factor Theory

How to apply it to the workforce

Give plenty of
For the happiest
feedback and
and most Make sure you
make sure your
productive pay attention to
employees
workforce, you Your employees your team and
understand how
need to work on must feel right form supportive
To help motivate they can grow
improving both treatment by relationships with
your employees, and progress
motivator and offering them the them.
make sure they through the
hygiene factors. best possible
feel appreciated company.
working
and supported.
conditions and
fair pay.

For true engagement to occur in a company you must first remove the issues that cause dissatisfaction – the baseline benefits offered by the
company that satisfy the hygiene needs of the employee. Then you must focus on the individual and what they want out of their association with
your enterprise.

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2 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

The Hierarchy of
Needs theory was coined by
psychologist Abraham
Maslow in his 1943 paper “A the desire to achieve everything you possibly can and
Theory of Human become the most that you can be
Motivation”
Self-
actualization

the need to feel confident and be respected by others

Esteem

the need for friendships, relationships and family

Love/belonging

including personal and financial security and health and

wellbeing
Safety

these needs must be met in order for a person to

survive, such as food, water and shelter
Psychological

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3 Hawthorne Effect

The Hawthorne Effect was first described by Henry How to apply it to the workforce
A.Landsberger in 1950 who noticed a tendency for some people
to work harder and perform better when they were being
observed by researchers.

The Hawthorne Effect is named after a series of social

experiments on the influence of physical conditions on Employees will work harder if they know they’re being
productivity at Western Electric’s factory at Hawthorne, Chicago observed, but don’t watch them all day.
in the 1920s and 30s.

The researchers changed a number of physical conditions over Provide:

the course of the experiments
Regular feedback

Lighting Working hours Breaks Show your employees you care about them

In all cases Productivity increased

Provide working condition at the best possible level
Employees became motivated to work harder as a response to
the attention being paid to them, rather than the actual physical
changes themselves.

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4 Expectancy Theory

Expectancy Theory proposes that people will choose how to How to apply it to the workforce
behave depending on the outcomes they expect as a result of
their behaviour.

Expectancy theory is based on 3 blocks

Set achievable goals for the employees

Provide rewards that your employees actually want

Valence Rewards could be in form of wage rising, bonuses, all-expenses

the value you place on the reward
paid nights out, Praise, opportunities for progression and
“employee of the month”
Instrumentality
the belief that you will receive a reward if you meet
performance expectations

Expectancy
the belief that your effort will result in your desired goal based
on your past experience, self confidence and how difficult you
think the goal is to achieve
People are most motivated if they believe that they will receive a
desired reward if they hit an achievable target.
They are least motivated if they don’t want the reward or they
don’t believe that their efforts will result in the reward.

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5 Three-Dimensional Theory of Attribution
Attribution theory explains how we attach meaning to our own,
and other people’s, behaviour.
Bernard Weiner’s Three-Dimensional theory of
attribution assumes that people try to determine why we do
what we do.
Specific attributions (e.g. bad luck, not studying hard enough)
were less important than the characteristics of that attribution
Characteristics of attribution that can affect our future
motivation
How to apply it to the workforce
Give your employees specific feedback
Let them know that you know they can improve
Praise your employees for showing an improvement, even if the
outcome was still not correct
Stability – how stable is the attribution?
• Stable factor – student believes they failed the exam because they
weren’t smart enough
• Unstable factor is less permanent, e.g. being ill.
Stable attribution for successful achievements -> positive expactations ->
higher motivation -> success in the future
Stable attribution in negative situations-> lower expectations in the future
Locus of control –
was the event caused by an internal or an external factor?
If the student believes it’s their own (an internal cause), they may be less
motivated in the future.
If they believed an external factor was to blame, they may not experience
such a drop in motivation.
Controllability - how controllable was the situation?
If an individual believes they could have performed better, they may be less
motivated to try again in the future than someone who believes they failed
because of factors outside of their control.