Motivation

Motivation is a process that account for an individual’s intensity, direction, and persistence toward
attaining a goal. Intensity is concerned with how hard a person tries. High intensity is unlikely lead to
favorable job-performance outcomes unless the effort is channeled in a direction that benefits the
organization. Motivation has a persistence dimension. This is a meaning of how long a person can
maintain effort. Motivated individuals stay with a task along enough to achieve their goal.

The motivational process begins with identifying a person’s needs. Needs are deficiencies that a person
experiences at a particular time. These deficiencies may be psychological (e.g. the need for recognition),
physiological (e.g. the need for water, air, or food), or social (e.g. the need for friendship). Needs often
act as energizers. That is, needs create tensions within the individual, who finds them uncomfortable
and therefore is likely to make an effort to reduce or eliminate them.
Motivation is goal directed. A goal is a specific result that an individual wants to achieve. An employee’s
goals often are driving forces, and accomplishing these goals can significantly reduce needs.

Needs Hierarchy Model

The most widely recognized model of motivation is the needs hierarchy model. Abraham H. Maslow
suggested that people have a complex set of exceptionally strong needs that can be arranged in a
hierarchy. Underlying this hierarchy are the following basic assumptions:
 Once a need has been satisfied, its motivational role declines in importance. However, as one
need is satisfied, another need gradually emerges to take its place, so people are always striving
to satisfy some need.
 The needs network for most people is very complex, with several needs affecting behavior at
any one time. Clearly, when someone faces an emergency, such as desperate thirst, that need
dominates until it is gratified.
 Lower level needs must be satisfied, in general, before higher level needs are activated
sufficiently to drive behavior.
 There are more ways of satisfying higher level than lower level needs.
Physiological Needs physiological needs are the desire for food, water, air, and shelter. They are the
lowest level in Maslow’s hierarchy. People concentrate on satisfying these needs before turning to
higher order needs. Managers should understand that, to the extent employees are motivated by
physiological needs, their concerns do not center on the work they are doing. They will accept any job
that meets those needs. Managers who focus on physiological needs in trying to motivate subordinate
assumes that people who work primarily for money. Hershey foods, for example, offers insurance
rebates to employees who live healthy lifestyles (e.g. physically fit nonsmokers) and raise premiums for
those at greater risk. In this way, they offer incentives to encourage wellness activities.

Security Needs secure needs are the desire for safety, stability, and absence of pain, threat, or illness.
Like physiological needs, unsatisfied security needs cause people to be preoccupied with satisfying
them. People who are motivated primarily by security needs value their jobs mainly as defenses against
the loss of basic needs satisfaction. Managers who feel that security needs are important focus on
protecting workers from hazards in their environment by providing them with hard hats, goggles, and
ergonomic keyboards (which prevent carpal tunnel syndrome. Psychological safety is also important. By
offering health, life, and disability insurance, organizations promote their employees sense of security
and well being.

Affiliation Needs affiliation needs are the desire for friendship, love and a feel of belonging. When
physiological and security needs have been satisfied, affiliation needs emerge. Managers should realize
that, when affiliation needs are the primary source of motivation, people value their work as an
opportunity for finding and establishing warm and friendly interpersonal relationships. Managers and
team leaders who believe that employees are striving primarily to satisfy these needs are likely to act
supportively. They emphasize employee acceptance by coworkers, extracurricular activities (e.g.
organized sports program, cultural events, and company celebrations), and team based norms.

Esteem needs the desire for feelings of achievement, self worth and recognition or respect are all
esteem needs. People with esteem needs want others to accept them for what they are and to perceive
them as competent and able. Managers who focus on esteem needs try to motivate employees with
public rewards and recognition for achievements. Such managers use lapel pins, articles in the company
paper, achievements lists on the bulletin board, and the like to foster employees’ pride in their work.
Mary kay cosmetics reward top performers with a pink Cadillac. According to the late Mary Kay Ash, the
founder of her company, people want recognition and praise than money.

Self-Actualization Needs involve people realizing their full potential and becoming all that they can
become. People who strive for self actualization seek to solve their problem-solving abilities. Managers
who emphasize self actualization may involve employees in designing jobs, make special assignments
that capitalize on employees unique skills, or give employee teams leeway in planning and implanting
their work. The self employed often have strong self-actualization needs. When Mary Kay Ash founded
her firm in 1963, she acted on her belief that, when a woman puts her priorities in order, she can indeed
have it all.

Maslow’s needs hierarchy model also suggests the types of behaviors that will help fulfill various needs.
The three lowest categories of needs-physiological, safety and social- are also known as deficiency
needs. According to Maslow, unless these needs are satisfied, an individual will fail to develop into a
healthy person, both physically and psychologically. In contrast, esteem and self-actualization needs are
known as growth needs. Satisfaction of these needs helps a person grow and develop as a human being.

Maslow’s work has received much attention from managers, as well as psychologists. Research has
found that top managers are better able to satisfy their esteem and self actualization needs than are
lower level managers; as part of the reason is that top managers have more challenging jobs and
opportunities for self actualization. Employees who work on a team have been able to satisfy their
higher level needs by making decisions that affect their team and organization. Employees have little or
no control over their work (e.g. assembly-line workers) may not even experience higher level needs in
relation to their jobs.
Studies have also shown that the fulfillment of needs differs according to the job a person performs, a
person’s age and background, and the size of the company. Not everyone is motivated in the same way.
You shouldn’t assume that it’s a one-size-fits-all solution. You have to understand people’s needs.