UNDERSTANDING EMPLOYEES’ MOTIVATION:

IMPLICATIONS FOR MANAGERS

BY

Prof. Edun, Taiwo

+234803-342-8770

&

Dr. Oba-Adenuga, Olusegun Adeleke

obaadenuga@yahoo.com

+234803-387-9789

Department of Educational Foundations and Management,

Faculty of Education,

Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-iwoye,

Ogun state, Nigeria.

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Abstract

The paper focused on understanding employees’ motivation and its implications

for managers. Basic meaning of motivation was established, reviews of the

categories and theories of motivation was made; so also, its interpretations was

exhaustibly dealt with. Implications of motivation for managers were inferred; the

paper recommended among others that managers should be on talking terms with

their employees and carryout annual test performance based on questionnaire and

other inventories to determine what motivate their employees and also, get

feedback from them. The paper concluded that managers should design

motivational programmes to meet the needs of their employees and appreciated

their modest contributions.

Keywords: Employees’ motivation, Intrinsic and Extrinsic motivation, theories of motivation,

and managerial implications.

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Introduction

Every employee has a reason for joining a particular workforce. He or she expects the

employment to meet his or her basic needs. When such needs are not met overtime,

dissatisfaction and, or turnover sets in. Managers should therefore understand the basic needs of

employees and take concrete steps to meet them to ensure stability, harmony and high

productivity among employees.

Meaning of motivation

Motivation is a term used to describe forces acting on or within a person that cause the

person to behave in a specific, goal directed manner. Definitions of motivation abound, one thing

these definitions have in common is the inclusion of words such as ‘desire’, ‘drive’, ‘want’,

‘aims’, ‘wishes’, ‘goals’ and ‘incentives’. For instance, Luthan (1988) defines motivation as, ‘a

process that starts with a psychological deficiency or need that activates behaviour or a drive that

is aimed at a goal incentive’. Kreitner (1995) defines motivation as the psychological process

that gives behaviour purpose and direction. Buford, Bedeian and Lindner (1995) sees motivation

as a predisposition to behave in a purposive manner to achieve specific unmet needs. Higgins

(1994) observes motivation as an internal drive to satisfy an unsatisfied need. Cole (1995) states

that motivation is “processes, both instinctive and rational, by which people seek to satisfy the

basic drives, perceived needs and personal goals, which trigger human behaviour”. According to

Ilogu (2005), motivation deals with dynamic changes within the individual that bring about his

motives to ensure the achievement of a set goal. Therefore, the key to understanding the process

of motivation lies in the meaning of, and the relationship among needs, drives and incentives.

Harping further on this, Minner, Ebrahim, and Watchel, (1995) states that in a simple sense,

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motivation consists of these three interacting, interdependent elements, i.e., needs, drives and

incentives.

Whenever there is human activity, there is motivation, be it at home, in marriage, in

religious organization, in academic endeavour, and in a workplace. Motivation deals with human

behaviour and no two individuals think the same. Therefore, the motivation of each and everyone

is different. The concept of motivation can be described as Gongon drum (a Yoruba talking

drum) whereby if faces some people, it backs others. Reasons for this may not be far-fetched,

Edun, (2009) describes modern man as organizational man; he is born in the hospital, educated

in schools, employed by public or private enterprise, joins trade unions and professional

organizations and even if he eventually dies, he is be buried by a Christian, Islamic or any

religious organization he belongs. Hence, his perception, feelings, visions and character is

shaped by the experiences of the past. Therefore, what motivates man differs from one individual

to the other. Conversely, many managers do not know what motivates their employees and some

do not bother to seek to know. As a result, this paper seeks to offer basic tips to managers on the

accurate motivation to their employees in their workplaces.

Categories of motivation

Generally speaking, motivation is categorized to two types, namely; intrinsic and extrinsic

motivation. Intrinsic motivation refers to self motivating activities that people will partake in for

no reward other than the enjoyment that these activities bring them. The three main forms of

intrinsic motivation according to Bruno and Osterloh (2000) are job satisfaction, compliance

with standards, and achievement of personal goals. While extrinsic motivation serves to satisfy

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indirect or instrumental needs. The best example of reward in extrinsic motivation is money,

which can be used to buy or build a house, buy a car, stocks, train children and so on.

The role of motivation among employees is all encompassing, infact; performance of

every employee depends on how well such employee is motivated. Motivated employee helps

organization survive. Motivated employees are more productive. To be effective, managers need

to understand what motivates employees within the context of the roles they perform. Of all the

functions a manager performs, motivating employees is arguably the most complex. This is due

partly to the fact that what motivates employees, changes constantly (Bowen & Radharkrishna,

1991). For example, research suggests that as employees’ income increases, money becomes less

of a motivator (Kovach, 1987). Also, as employees get older, interesting work becomes more of

a motivator.

Humanly speaking, surprising as it may seem, many employees are not sure about which

behaviours their managers’ value. Conversely, many managers are unsure of what workers want

from their jobs, thereby often surprised by low workers’ productivity. Man’s behaviour is seen as

dominated by his unsatisfied needs and he is a 'perpetually wanting animal, for when one need is

satisfied he aspires for the next higher one (Accel-Team, 2010)

While managers might not agree on what motivates workers, they do agree that the

organizational and work settings must allow three things to happen:

i. Employees must be attracted not only to join the organization but also to remain in it.

ii. Employees must perform the task for which they were hired

iii. Employees must go beyond routine performance and become creative and innovative

in their work.

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 In other words, for an organization to be effective, it must tackle the motivational

problems involved in stimulating employees’ productivity and desire to remain members of

the organization.

Basic motivational process

A basic management principle states that people’s performance is based on their level of

ability and motivation. This principle is often expressed by the following formula; Performance

= f (ability x motivation).According to this principle, no task can be performed successfully

unless the person who is to carry out the task possesses the ability to do so. Ability refers to a

person’s talent for performing goal related tasks. This talent might include intellectual

components, such as spatial skills, verbal and manual components, such as physical strength and

dexterity.

Regardless of how intelligent, skilled, or dexterous a person may be, ability alone is not

sufficient to attain a high level of performance. The person must be motivated to achieve that

performance level (Hellriegel, Slocum & Woodman, 1989). More importantly, examination of

different theories of motivation could assist managers know what motivates employees at the

workplace.

Theories of Motivation

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 Management scholars and psychologists have developed numerous theories of motivation.

Broadly, these theories are grouped into two; namely: the content theories and process theories

(Cambel, 1988; Lawler & Hackman, 1972).

Content Theories

This attempts to explain the factors within a person that energize, direct and stop behavior.

These theories focus on specific things that motivate people. For instance, an attractive salary,

good working conditions, and friendly co-workers seem to be important to most employees.

Hunger (the need for food) or a steady job (the need for security are powerful motivators that

arouse people and many cause them to set specific goals (earning money to buy food or working

in a financially stable industry). Four widely recognized content theories of motivation are

Maslow’s needs hierarchy, Alderfer’s ERG theory, Herzberg’s two factor theories, and

MacClelland’s achievement motivation theory.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow’s position is that people have needs or wants inside them which cause them to act

in a particular way. These needs are divided into primary and secondary. The first sets of needs

are the psychological needs: oxygen, water, food, shelter and sex, they constitute the lowest level

in Maslow’s hierarchy. People concentrate on satisfying these needs before turning to higher

order needs. The secondary needs are social needs; they include companionship and achievement

(learned). Maslow’s hierarchy (ranking) from the lowest to highest are:

Physiological Needs:- air, food, sleep, shelter and sex. Fulfillment of these lowest levels need

enable individuals to survive, nothing else is more important when these bodily needs cry out for

fulfillment. As Maslow has observed, it is quite true that man lives by bread alone, however,
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when we have plenty of bread to eat, the prospect of eating more bread is no longer a source of

motivation. Other things become important.

Security Needs:- here, we want to ensure our safety, stability and absence of pain, threat or

illness. Like physiological needs, unsatisfied security needs cause people to be preoccupied with

satisfying them.

Belongingness and Social Affiliation Needs:- The needs for friendship, love and a feeling of

belonging are all affiliation needs. When physiological and security needs are satisfied,

affiliation needs are the primary source of motivation.

Esteem Needs:- Both personal feelings of achievement and self-worth and recognition or respect

from others meet esteem needs. Employees with esteem needs want others to accept them for

what they are and perceive them as competent and able.

Self-Actualization Need:- This is the highest in the hierarchy of needs of Maslow. This is self-

fulfillment. Employees who strive for self-actualization experience acceptance of themselves and

others and increased problem-solving ability.

In Maslow’s theory, the basic needs, such as physiological and safety needs are influenced

by the environment, whereas affection, esteem and self-actualisation needs are created by the

mind of individuals. Another important point in this theory is that human tend to fulfill the needs

systematically, one at a time. After fulfilling first need, it will move on to the second needs, and

then subsequently to the third needs and so on. However, if the first need is not fulfilled, it will

not move on to the second need. For example, if a man is struggling to feed himself, he will not

bother about recognition. Thus when a need is satisfied or partially satisfied, it will less dominate

a person’s behaviour. The person will then go for higher needs.

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 However, hierarchy of needs can be reversed under circumstances. For instance, if a high

ranking employee who is enjoying fat salary, security and high status, suddenly lost his job, he

will suddenly revert to his psychological needs again such as money for food and shelter

(Adenuga, personal experience 2010). This clearly shows that Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is

not about moving up the hierarchy, sometimes, it may face the reverse from the top needs down

to the basic needs at the bottom of the hierarchy.

2. ERG Theory

Alderfer’s ERG theory (1972) agrees with Maslow that individual have a hierarchy of needs

but instead of five categories of needs suggested by Maslow, ERG theory holds that individual

has three sets of basic needs: existence, relatedness and growth. Alder describes them as follows:

Existence needs, or material needs, are satisfied by food, air, water, pay, fringe benefits and

working conditions; relatedness or needs for establishing and maintaining interpersonal

relationships with co-workers, superiors, subordinates, friends and family; and growth needs or

needs that are expressed by an individual’s attempt to find opportunities for unique personal

development by making creative contributions at work.

3. Herzbergs’ Two-Factor Theory

He states that factors which create satisfaction (satisfies or motivators) are those arising

from intrinsic values from the job content such as achievement, promotion, responsibility. So,

managers should maximize condition to help employees grow on the jobs. Whereas factors
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which create dissatisfaction (dissatisfies or higher factors)-extinct job context will only satisfy

lower needs e.g. company policy, supervision, working condition, job security or status lower

needs. Therefore, managers have to find ways of motivating workers by a proper balance of the

two factors.

4. McClelland New Theory

McClelland stated that human beings have three basic motivational needs: power,

affiliation and achievement. When a need is strong in a person, its effect will be to motivate the

person to engage in behaviours to satisfy the need. His research has focused mainly on ways that

managers can develop subordinates to achieve.

The power need is expressed in a strong desire to change or alter the cause of action of

events. Affiliation need exists in everyone because we all have a need to work for love and group

approval. McClelland indicates that almost all people feel they have an “achievement motive”,

the amount of achievement motivation that people have depends on their childhood, personal and

occupational experiences and the type of organization for which they work.

According to McClelland’s theory, motives are “stored” in the preconscious mind just

below the level of full awareness. They lie between the conscious and the unconscious, in the

area of daydreams, where people talk to themselves without quite being aware of it. A basic

premise of the theory is that the pattern of these day dreams can be tested, and people can be

taught to change their motivation by changing these day dreams.

Process Theories

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 Process theories attempt to describe and analyze how personal factors (internal to the

person) interact and influence each other to produce certain kinds of behaviour. The fact that

individuals exert more effort to obtain rewards that satisfy important needs than to obtain

rewards that do not would be an example. The four best known process theories of motivation

are expectancy, reinforcement, goal setting and equity.

Vroom’s Valency × Expectancy Theory:- Theory Development of the expecting theory of

motivation was based on four assumptions about the causes of behaviour in organizations.

First, a combination of forces in the individual and the environment determines

behaviour. Typically, in Nigeria, people join organizations with expectations about their jobs that

are based on their needs, motivation and past histories. These factors all influence how people

respond to an organization. Secondly, despite constraints placed on individual behaviour (for

example) individuals make decisions about their own behaviours, rules, regulations and work

group norms in organizations. Third, different individuals have different needs and goals.

Employees want different kinds of outcomes from their work such as, position, good pay, job

security. And fourth, individuals tend to do things that they perceive will lead to desirable

rewards and avoid doing things that they perceive will lead to undesirable outcomes.

In general, the expecting theory holds that individuals have their own needs and ideas

about what they desire from their work (rewards). They act on these needs and ideas when

making decisions about what organizations to join and know hard work. The theory also holds

that individuals are not inherently motivated or unmotivated: that motivation depends in the

situation facing individuals and how it fits their needs.

Equity Theory

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 Equity theory was developed by Adam (1965), the theory focuses on an individual’s

feelings of how fairly he or she is treated in comparison with others. The comparison can be in

terms of the output that a person puts into his work, and the outcome he receives from his/her

work. Whether a person is treated fairly or otherwise, depends very much on the person’s

opinion.

This theory stresses on two criteria. There are input and output, input means the amount of effort

put in by the employee, and output is the reward. If the input is commensurate with the output,

therefore, equity exists. However, if the input and output is different, there exists inequity. This

means that person could either be over paid, or under paid.

Method of motivating employees

In formulating methods of motivating employees, managers should endeavour to identify

individual and group needs within their organizations in order to put their employees in the right

track of motivation. Equally, they should maintain effective organizational communication, staff

participation in decision making and maintaining effective supervision without fear or favour at

the workplace.

Managerial implications

Motivation cannot be seen, it can only be inferred in the human behaviour. Managers should

not rely on their own perceptions of the workplace situation; they should understand the

behaviour of their subordinates and also, be acquitted with all the theories of motivation and

applied them to the need of their employees for effective job performance.

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 For employees who are motivated by physiological needs, their concern do not center on the

job they are doing, they will accept any job that serves their needs. Managers should motivate

employees on this category by offering them wage increases, better working conditions, more

leisure time, longer breaks, and better fringe benefits.

Also, managers who feel that security needs are most important to their employees should

not encourage risk taking and innovation in solving problems but rather should focus on their

employees by emphasizing rules and regulations, job security, and fringe benefits. The employee

in turn, will strictly follow such rules and regulations.

In the same vein, managers who believe their employees are striving to satisfy affiliation

needs should act in a more supportive and permissive manner, emphasizing employees’

acceptance by co-workers through extracurricular activities; such as picnic, organized sport

programs and so on.

Employees with esteem needs wants recognition and acceptance from others, managers who

focus on esteem needs in their attempt to motivate their employees should lay emphasis on

public award and recognition for services. This can be done through the use of achievement lists

on the bulleting board, lapel pins, and the like to promote employees’ pride in the workplace.

On the other hand, an employee focusing on self-actualization needs is striving towards self-

fulfillment and increased problem-solving ability. Managers may motivate such employee by

involving him in designing jobs, and making him to lead others in planning and implementing

work procedures.

Furthermore, in the ERG theory, if a manager observes that an employee’s growth is

blocked, perhaps because the job does not permit satisfaction of his need or the organization
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lacks the resources to satisfy them, the manager should redirect the employee’s behaviour

towards satisfying relatedness or existence needs.

Vroom Expectancy theory focuses on three things: efforts and performance; performance

and reward relationship; and rewards and personal goal relationship. Although, a more difficult

goal definitely causes higher level of input, however, a vague goal will often be misleading and

confusing. A person performs better when the goal is clearly specified, Muslins (1985) notes that

goals can be challenging, but should be clear and realistic. Managers should therefore, design

goals in order to enhance and maintain motivation in an employee.

Managers should know their workers beyond their names and official titles or ranks; he should

know that each employee should be handled in a special way.

Every manager within an organization should exercise good leadership to motivate their

employee based on their performance without fair or favour. Managers should avoid treating

their employees base on blood relationship, godfatherism, ethnic or religious affiliation rather,

they should pursue fair play, equity and justice in the course of motivating their workers.

In addition, in-service training of workers in order to maximize their potential should be

encouraged by the management, and good communication should be practiced to avoid suspicion

among workers. When all these are done, employees would be motivated for higher

performance.

Recommendations

Having examined the concept of motivation, its theories and implications to managers, it is

the position of this paper to recommend the following:

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  Managers should not talk to their employees on what motivate them because, some

employees do not know this, instead managers should check in with their employees

about their feelings and what they value; it is always a good idea to get feedback from

employees. 

 Managers should carry out annual test base on questionnaire and other inventories to

determine what motivate their workers.

 Managers should be on the lookout for signs of de-motivation among their workers, and

also, ensure they are not inadvertently introducing something into the work environment

that is being counter-productive to the employees’ motivation.

Conclusion

In concluding this paper, managers should be reminded that motivation programme not

based on employees’ efforts and performance would results to low morale of other employees

and attitude to work which normally manifest in high absenteeism, lack of creativity, employees’

turnover intention, and turnover. Therefore, managers should design motivational programme in

such a way that would represent the needs of their employees and also be appreciated by them

(employees), all these would go a long way to motivate employees to high productivity, retention

and creativity in their organization.

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