Motivation Theory

What is it?
- Motivation is the will to work
- Comes from enjoyment of the work itself and/or desire to achieve certain goals
Methods available to motivate employees
- Financial methods
  - Bonuses
- Non-financial methods
  - Responsibility
  - Praise

Reasons why people go to work

To earn money
Job satisfaction
To belong to a group
A sense of security
Obtain a feeling of self-worth

Advantages of a well motivated workforce

Increase productivity
High staff retention
Flexible workforce
Produce higher quality goods/services
Better customer service
Desire to learn new skills
Employees want business to succeed
Lower levels of absenteeism
Company gets a better reputation
Lower training and recruitment costs

Main financial incentives at work

Wages
- Paid per hour worked
Salaries
- Annual salary paid monthly
Bonuses
- Paid when certain targets have been achieved
Commission
- Staff paid according to the number or value of products they sell
Fringe benefits
- Often known as perks, additional benefits to working at the business.
  - Free meals
  - Company car
  - Private health insurance
  - etc

Main non-financial incentives to support motivation

Empowerment
- Delegating responsibility to employees
Praise
- Recognition for good work
Promotion
- Promoting staff to a position of higher responsibility
Job Enrichment
- Giving staff more challenging and interesting tasks
Job Enlargement
- Giving employees more tasks of similar levels of complexity
Working environment
- Providing a safe, clean, comfortable environment to work in
Team working
- Provide opportunities to work in teams

Motivational Theorists

Taylor

Scientific management
Everybody is motivated by money

Mayo

Human relations management
Hawthorne effect

Maslow

Hierarchy of needs

Herzberg

Two-factor theory
Motivators
Hygiene or maintenance factors

McGregor

McGregor’s theories X and Y

Drucker

Importance of objectives

Peters

Involving employees
Recognising champions

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Five levels of human needs which employees need to have fulfilled at work
Only once a lower level of need has been fully met, a worker would be motivated by the opportunity of having the next need up in the hierarchy satisfied
A business should therefore offer different incentives to workers in order to help them fulfil each need in turn and progress up the hierarchy

Physiological

Food
Rest/sleep

Safety

Safe working environment
Warmth
Job Security
Praise
Training

Love/Belonging

Teamwork
Friendship

Self Esteem

Empowerment
Respect By Others
Recognition

Self-actualization

Advancement
Empowerment+

Taylor’s Scientific Management Activity Worksheet

Frederick Winslow Taylor
Taylorism
Motivated by pay
Science can be used to increase efficiency
Workers given one task to master
“In the past, the man has been first. In the future, the system must be first.”
“One best way” to do a task
Managers maintain close control and supervision

Key concepts of scientific management theory

Standardised approach to optimising work for a more efficient workforce
Time and motion study analysing tasks & finding the quickest way of completing tasks
Workers did not have to be skilled just highly productive at one job
After finding the “one best way” employees then need to be motivated to work in that way
This could be done by increased pay for productive workers & firing ineffective workers → Piece rate pay

Taylor’s Approach to Management

Work Study

Identify the most efficient methods of production

Identify

Spot the most efficient worker and identify why they are so good

Train

Train the remaining workers to work like the best

Reward

Pay workers based on productivity (ie, piece rate)

Taylor in the modern world

Amazon was heavily criticised for their piece rate approach in their warehouses.
They have made some improvements, but are still not regarded as a good employer.

Herzberg’s Theory of Motivation

Believed in a two-factor theory

Worksheet

Summary of the Two Factor theory of motivation

Hygiene Factors
- Won’t make employees work harder
- Causes dissatisfaction is not present
- Examples
  - Job Security
  - Status
  - Relationships
  - Salary
  - Conditions
  - Policies
Motivation Factors
- Make employees work harder if present
- Increases satisfaction
- Examples
  - Growth
  - Advancement
  - Varied work
  - Recognition

Hygiene factors should be met before motivational factors.

Hygiene or Motivational Factor

	Hygiene Factor	Motivational Factor	Explain
Fair pay	🗸		Needed to ensure people feel respected
Growth		🗸	Helps people to feel like they are progressing
Career Advancement		🗸	Feel like they are moving up in the hierarchy
Relationships	🗸		Create connections between people
Policies	🗸		Fair policies to keep things in order
Meaningful Work	🗸		Making an impact
Recognition	🗸		Being seen to make a difference

Assessment of the importance of hygiene factors in terms of employee satisfaction

Without hygiene factors, employees cannot be properly satisfied at work because they are looking to meet minimum expectations of the job
With hygiene factors, employees will feel like the job is at least meeting the bare minimum

Suggest whether hygiene factors are more important than the motivational factors

Motivational factors have the largest observable difference, however hygiene factors are required for the employees to feel like their basic requirements are being met. It is no good employees having loads of benefits if they are still isolated from each other in grey cubicles all day, because they will never have the relationship aspect of hygiene.

Argument as to whether Herzberg’s two theory motivational factor works

…

Mayo’s Human Relations School

Mayo’s Theory of motivation

Motivation was much more complex than being solely influenced than money
Initially believes physical factors made an impact on employee motivation
Performed the Hawthorne Experiment

What made him change this mind?

Hawthorne Experiment
- Seperated workers into two teams
- Altered working conditions of both teams
  - Increased a physical factor such as light in one team, reduced in another
  - Analysed results
- Found that employee motivation improved or stayed the same in worse physical environments.
Conclusion
- Social factors made an impact on motivation much more than physical factors
- Participants productivity increased when they felt valued and appreciated
- Positive relationships betwene managers and employees were found to be key
Hawthorne’s social factors lead to the creation of Human Resources.
Term “Hawthorne Effect” used to describe how relations with managers increases result in productivity increases
- Some dispute the size of the impact

3 pros and 3 cons of the human relations theory of motivation

Pros
- Encourages positive workplace relationships
- Individual needs of employees are noticed
- Social factors help to increase the morale, retention, motivation and productivity of employees
Cons
- Unscientific approach and original findings lack sufficient supportive evidence
- Ignores the potential impact of conflict
- Oversimplifies human behaviour
  - Assumes a satisfied worker will automatically be a productive worker

Do you agree with this theory of motivation?

Mayo’s social factors are definitely an important piece in the puzzle of motivation theory. Alone, they would not be enough to motivate employees, but I believe that if they are combined with several other approaches such as Herzberg’s hygiene and motivation factors and Taylorism. The combination of these different theories would enable the spread of benefits to the employees to cover a wide enough range of needs that everyone should be sufficiently motivated to work at what is at least an acceptable level.

Taylorism focuses mainly on the financial side of things and ensures that employees are paid competitively. However, Taylorism treats employees more mechanically like a machine whereas Mayo’s social factors focus more heavily on the human aspect and allow employees to establish more meaningful links between each other. Therefore, I would personally prefer Mayo’s social factors, but I would understand why others may choose Taylorism.

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📚 Seth Maurice-Brant

Explorer