Motivation

What is motivation?
• A need or desire that energizes and directs behavior.

“Internal process that makes a person move towards a goal. It cant be

directly observed. It can only be inferred by noting a person’s behavior.”

Motivation is said to be an element in setting and attaining a goal.

Internal process that makes a person move towards a goal.

• Motive: Impulse that causes a person to act.
• E.g: getting a glass of water to reduce thirst.
• Reading a book to gain knowledge.

• It is said that motivation is a biological, social and cognitive forces that

activate behavior.
Components of motivation
• Want to lose weight. For this simply having desire to accomplish
would not be enough.

• Activation: Decision to initiate the behavior.

• Persistence: continued efforts towards a goal even though the
obstacles exist. ( taking more courses to gain extra knowledge).
• Intensity: concentration and vigor that goes into pursuing a goal.
Types of Motivation
• Intrinsic Motivation: arise within individual, doing complicated puzzle
purely for your own personal gratification. )

• Extrinsic Motivation: that arise from outside of individual, (rewards,

trophies, money, social recognition).
Theories of Motivation
• There are two important types of motivation theory:
• Content and Process.
• Content models of motivation focus on what people need in their
lives (i.e. what motivates them).
• Process theories look at the psychological and behavioral processes
that affect and individual’s motivation.
• Content models of motivation focus on the “whats” of motivation.
• More specifically they focus on the different things that people may
feel they need in their lives.
• The theory is that people’s motivations will be based on acquiring the
things that they think they need.
• By understanding their wants and needs, you can understand why and
how people are motivated.
• Maslow hierarchy of Needs theory
• Alderfer’s ERG theory
• Two factor Theory
Maslow hierarchy of Needs
Maslow hierarchy of Needs
• Physiological needs - these are biological requirements for human survival, e.g. air,
food, drink, shelter, clothing, warmth, sex, sleep.
• If these needs are not satisfied the human body cannot function optimally. Maslow
considered physiological needs the most important as all the other needs become
secondary until these needs are met.
• Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law, stability, freedom from
fear.
• Love and belongingness needs - after physiological and safety needs have been
fulfilled, the third level of human needs is social and involves feelings of
belongingness. The need for interpersonal relationships motivates behavior
• Examples include friendship, intimacy, trust, and acceptance, receiving and giving
affection and love. Affiliating, being part of a group (family, friends, work).
• Esteem needs - which Maslow classified into two categories: (i)
esteem for oneself (dignity, achievement, mastery, independence)
and (ii) the desire for reputation or respect from others (e.g., status,
prestige).
• Maslow indicated that the need for respect or reputation is most
important for children and adolescents and precedes real self-esteem
or dignity.
•  Self-actualization needs - realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment,
seeking personal growth and peak experiences. A desire “to become
everything one is capable of becoming”
Alderfer ERG theory
• Existence
• Relatedness
• Growth
Herzberg Two factor Theory
Process Theories
• Process theories of motivation focus on the “hows” of
motivation.
• Instead of focusing on what people need, these models
focus on the psychological and behavioral processes that
humans follow.
• By understanding these processes it’s possible to
understand the actions, interactions and contexts that
motivate individuals’ behaviors.
• Expectancy theory
• Goal setting theory
• Equity theory
• Expectancy Theory:
Individual is motivated and the strength of his action depends on close
association between his preference to a specific outcome and the actual
outcome. 
• The theory established relationship between effort, performance and
rewards.
• According to expectancy theory, motivation is the result of the sum of
the products of valence, instrumentality and expectancy.
Equity Theory
• This theory focuses on people’s sense of justice and fairness. According to this
theory a person’s motivation depends on the degree of equity that people perceive in
their work situation.
• An employee’s sense of satisfaction comes about when he perceives that he inputs
are in balance with the outcomes.
Inputs generally refer to a person’s qualification, experience and special abilities.
Outputs are the salary, benefits, etc.
People regularly compare their outcome-input ratio to the outcome-input ratios of
relevant others, i.e. friends, colleagues, neighbours 
• Equity Tension
• Rewards
 Goal Setting theory

• There is an inseparable link

between goal setting and task
performance.
• It states that specific, measurable
and attainable goals motivate an
employee to achieve the goal,
while lousy vague targets suck off
enthusiasm of employee.
• Clarity: Vague, unambiguous goal leads to misconceptions and will never give desired results.
• Challenging goals: Besides being clear and specific, the goal set should be challenging. Easy to achieve
goals fail to keep the employee excited, however, since people are often motivated by the feeling of
achievement, setting challenging goals helps motivate the employee to do his best.
• Achievable goals: if the goal by his manager is something really steep, it will do more damage instead of
good. Easy goals don’t seem to challenge an employee, however, in the eagerness to set challenging goals,
if the goal is tad on the unattainable side, the employee can get demotivated, instead of motivated. The idea
is to challenge the employee to give his best performance without frustrating him.
• Commitment to goals: If employees feel they were part of creating the goal, they are more likely to try
their level best to achieve the goal.
• Task Complexity: When a goal is complex, the employee becomes confused on how to achieve the goals.
This results in poor motivation and often resist and obstruct people from attaining the goals.
• Feedback: Once the goal is set and task is delegated, it is important to monitor the progress and provide
regular feedback to employee. Feedback empowers people to improve their performance and enable them to
keep their problems and concerns in perspective.