Motivation Theories

Motivation is a state of mind, filled with energy and enthusiasm, which drives a person to
work in a certain way to achieve desired goals. Motivation is a force that pushes people to
work with a high level of commitment and focus, even if things are going against them.
Motivation translates into a certain kind of human behavior. In short, motivation is the
driving force behind human actions.

There are many different forces that guide and direct our motivations. It is important to
ensure that every team member in an organization is motivated and meets the best project
management course bottom line. Various psychologists have studied human behavior and
have formalized their findings in the form of various motivational theories. These
motivational theories provide insights into the way people behave and what motivates
them.

Motivation theory is a way of looking at the motivation of a person and how this influences
their behavior, whether for personal or professional reasons. It's important to every aspect
of society but is especially relevant to business and management. Motivation is the key to
more profitable employees, as a motivated employee is more productive.

Theories of Motivation

Motivation is a huge field of study. Psychologists have proposed many different theories
of motivation. Some of the most famous motivational theories include the following:
McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y

In the 1960s, social psychologist Douglas McGregor developed two contrasting

theories that explained how managers' beliefs about what motivates their people
can affect their management style.

Theory X and Theory Y were first explained by McGregor in his book, "The Human Side of
Enterprise," and they refer to two styles of management – authoritarian (Theory X) and
participative (Theory Y).

The approach that you take will have a significant impact on your ability to motivate
your team members. So, it's important to understand how your perceptions of what
motivates them can shape your management style.

Theory X managers tend to take a pessimistic view of their people, and assume that
they are naturally unmotivated and dislike work.

This style of management assumes that workers:

• Dislike their work.

• Avoid responsibility and need constant direction.

• Have to be controlled, forced and threatened to deliver work.

• Need to be supervised at every step.

• Have no incentive to work or ambition, and therefore need to be enticed

by rewards to achieve goals.

Theory X: Managers who accept this theory believe that if you feel that your team members
dislike their work, have little motivation, need to be watched every minute, and are incapable
of being accountable for their work, avoid responsibility and avoid work whenever possible,
then you are likely to use an authoritarian style of management. According to McGregor, this
approach is very "hands-on" and usually involves micromanaging people's work to ensure
that it gets done properly.

Theory Y managers have an optimistic opinion of their people, and they use a

decentralized, participative management style. This encourages a

more collaborative, trust-based relationship between managers and their team

members.

People have greater responsibility, and managers encourage them to develop their

skills and suggest improvements. Appraisals are regular but, unlike in Theory X

organizations, they are used to encourage open communication rather than to

control staff.

Theory Y organizations also give employees frequent opportunities for promotion.

This style of management assumes that workers are :

• Happy to work on their own initiative.

• More involved in decision making.

• Self-motivated to complete their tasks.

• Enjoy taking ownership of their work.

• Seek and accept responsibility, and need little direction.

• View work as fulfillling and challenging.

• Solve problems creatively and imaginatively.

 When to Use Theory X and Theory Y

Most managers will likely use a mixture of Theory X and Theory Y. You may,

however, find that you naturally favor one over the other. You might, for instance,

have a tendency to micromanage or, conversely, you may prefer to take a

more hands-off approach.

Although both styles of management can motivate people, the success of each will

largely depend on your team's needs and wants and your organizational objectives.

You may use a Theory X style of management for new starters who will likely need

a lot of guidance, or in a situation that requires you to take control such as a crisis.

But you wouldn't use it when managing a team of experts, who are used to working

under their own initiative, and need little direction. If you did, it would likely have a

demotivating effect and may even damage your relationship.

Circumstance can also affect your management style. Theory X, for instance, is

generally more prevalent in larger organizations, or in teams where work can be

repetitive and target-driven.

In these cases, people are unlikely to find reward or fulfilllment in their work, so a

"carrot and stick" approach will tend to be more successful in motivating them than

a Theory Y approach.

In contrast, Theory Y tends to be favored by organizations that have a flatter

structure, and where people at the lower levels are involved in decision making and

have some responsibility.

DisAdvantage

However, both theories have their challenges. The restrictive nature of Theory X,

for instance, could cause people to become demotivated and non-cooperative if your

approach is too strict. This may lead to high staff turnover and could damage your

reputation in the long term.

Conversely, if you adopt a Theory Y approach that gives people too much freedom,

it may allow them to stray from their key objectives or lose focus. Less motivated

individuals may also take advantage of this more relaxd working environment by

shirking their work

Alderfer’s ERG Theory

C. P. Alderfer, an American psychologist, developed Maslow’s hierarchy of needs into a

theory of his own.

His theory suggests that there are three groups of core needs: existence (E), relatedness
(R), and growth (G). These groups are aligned with Maslow’s levels of physiological needs,
social needs, and self-actualization needs, respectively.

Existence needs concern our basic material requirements for living, which include what
Maslow categorized as physiological needs such as air, sleep, food, water, clothing, sex and
shelter and safety-related needs such as health, secure employment, and property
Relatedness needs have to do with the importance of maintaining interpersonal
relationships. These needs are based on social interactions with others and are aligned with
Maslow’s levels of love/belonging-related needs such as friendship, family, and sexual
intimacy and esteem-related needs such as gaining the respect of others.

Growth needs describe our intrinsic desire for personal development. These needs are
aligned with the other part of Maslow’s esteem-related needs such as self-esteem, self-
confidence, and achievement, and self-actualization needs such as morality, creativity,
problem-solving, and discovery.

In Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, individuals need to have satisfied one level of needs before
moving on to the next one. For example, they need to have satisfied their safety needs before
being motivated by social belonging. Alderfer disagreed. In his model, individuals do not
need to have satisfied their existence needs before being motivated by their relatedness
need.

In fact, Alderfer went further and said that different individuals potentially prioritize the needs
in different orders based on their life views. A standard example of this could be the starving
actor who’s motivated by growth through their art, potentially at the expense of their
existence (i.e. they can’t pay their rent but are pursuing their passion

Alderfer also noted that how individuals perceive their progression in relation to each of the
levels of need is important. If an individual feels they are making great progress at
relatedness, they may be increasingly motivated by growth even though their relatedness
need has not been fully satisfied. Similarly, if an individual feels frustrated with the progress
they are making in relation to growth, they may abandon it and redouble their motivation in
relation to relatedness.
Alderfer is of the opinion that when a certain category of needs is not being met, people will
redouble their efforts to fulfill needs in a lower category

According to the ERG theory, if the manager focuses solely on one need at a time, then
this will not effectively motivate the employee. The frustration-regression aspect of ERG
Theory has an added effect on workplace motivation. For e.g., if an employee is not
provided with growth and advancement opportunities in an organization, then he or she
might revert to related needs such as socializing needs.

To meet those socializing needs, if the environment or circumstances do not permit it, he
might revert to the need for money to fulfill those socializing needs. By the time the
manager realizes and discovers this, they will take more immediate steps to fulfill those
needs which are frustrated until such time that the employee can again pursue growth.

Motivation is the state of mind which pushes all human beings to perform to their highest
potential, with good spirits and a positive attitude. The various motivation theories outlined
above help us to understand what are the factors that drive motivation. It is a leader’s job to
ensure that every individual in the team and the organization is motivated, and inspired to
perform better than their best. This is neither quick nor easy, but in the long-term, the gains
that are derived from happy employees far outweigh the time and effort spent in motivating
them