Motivational Theory

Motivation is a method of instilling a strong desire to achieve organizational goals, and

this condition is met by addressing some individual desires. Essentially, motivation refers to

fulfilling major organizational goals through meeting the needs of individual employees. Work

motivation can be viewed as a group of intrinsic and extrinsic elements that initiate and know the

structure, direction, severity, and duration of work-associated behaviour. The notion is

specifically related to the professional situation, and it covers the impact on work behaviour of

both ambient forces and those intrinsic in the individual. Motivation theory is the study of what

inspires an employee to perform toward a specific goal or end (Robbins & Judge, 2017). It is

vital in many parts of society, but it is especially crucial in management studies.

It is because a motivated worker is more innovative, and a creative employee is more

profitable. Actually, research have also shown that pleasant, ensures that employees can improve

productivity by about 12%. A well-thought-out employee rewards program can go a long way

toward motivating the staff and increasing productivity. Although there are many typical ways

for firms to reward their workers (Staff lunches, Friday beers, etc.), a rewards plan is not a one-

size-fits-all approach. Instead, consider what works for the team, and create them accessible and

adequately sized (Haque, Haque, & Islam, 2014).

Several theories include Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Herzberg motivation/hygiene

theory, Expectancy Theory, and Incentive Theory. The Incentive Theory is the most realistic in

characterizing human behaviour. According to the incentive theory, individuals are inspired to

perform things because of external incentives. For instance, you may be driven to work every

day because you will be paid. Behavioral learning concepts including such attachment and
reinforcement are central to this view of motivation. In some aspects, this approach is similar to

the behaviourist notion of behavioral interventions.

Through the development of associations with outcomes, operant conditioning is used to

teach behaviours. Punishment makes a behaviour weaker, whereas reinforcing makes it stronger.

Although incentive theory is comparable, it posits that people voluntarily engage in specific

behaviours to receive benefits. The stronger the desire to chase those reinforcement, the greater

perceived rewards. Rewards can come from a person's exterior (extrinsic) or inside (intrinsic).

The incentive theory believes that humans are motivated by external circumstances through

positive relationships. For instance, Kevin turns on the air conditioning system even though he is

shivering from the cold because the girl sitting next to him is hot, and Kevin wants to impress

her (Cherry, 2021).

There is also no proof (based on student questionnaires) that program incentives reduced

intrinsic drive to learn in school. Although typical economic models predict that incentives

would improve individual study effort, a psychological theory contends that external motivators

may conflict with internal motivation and probably lower hard work. A weaker variant of this

concept holds that incentives improve performance in the short run and have negative long-term

effects by diminishing intrinsic drive. Still, we find no mention of this when evaluating test

results in the years following the scholarships competition (Wu, 2012). Furthermore, there are no

statistically substantial changes in students' self-expressed attitudes towards mathematics,

academic competence, or time.

References
Cherry, K. (2021, April 17). What Motivation Theory Can Tell Us About Human Behavior.

Retrieved from verywellmind: https://www.verywellmind.com/theories-of-motivation-

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%20such%20as,by%20forming%20associations%20with%20outcomes.

Haque, M. F., Haque, M. A., & Islam, M. S. (2014). Motivational Theories – A Critical

Analysis. ASA University Review, 8(1), 61-68. Retrieved from

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/306255973_Motivational_Theories_-

_A_Critical_Analysis

Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. (2017). Essentials of Organizational Behavior. Pearson Education.

Wu, W. (2012). The Relationship between Incentives to Learn and Maslow's Hierarchy of

Needs. Physics Procedia, 24, 1335–1342. Retrieved from

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257706847_The_Relationship_between_Incenti

ves_to_Learn_and_Maslow's_Hierarchy_of_Needs