Motivational Theories

Motivational Theories

Introduction

Employee motivations are critical for every organization as employees play an important role in the success of the organization. Companies thrive on the extra efforts exerted by motivated employees and it's the motivation which compels the employees to overcome unforeseen challenges faced by the organization. The top management has to establish procedures and policies which motivate people and provide an environment where they can foster (Miner, 2012). The senior management effects the motivation of employees and even if the company provides a good motivational environment, the employees may become demotivated to the extent of leaving the organization. The use of motivational theories provides a set of strategies to the managers and supervisors which can help them in managing the workforce and take the maximum output from them. Many scholars have carried out research on the motivating factors of the employees and have proposed motivational theories (Jelencic, 2011). Understanding of these theories helps managers to develop motivational strategies. The theories are categorized as content theories and process theories. The content theories explore and explain the reasons which lead to the change in motivation of the people over time. The process theories consider motivation as a process and try to explain the process which leads to the change in the motivation of people. We will be exploring the works of Abraham Maslow, Hertzberg Two Factor theory and Vroom's Expectance Theory.

Discussion

Abraham Maslow Theory of Motivation

History

Abraham Maslow proposed a motivational theory which is called as Maslow's hierarchy of needs in 1943. He extended his theory to focus more on human curiosity. He was psychology professor at Brooklyn College, besides teaching at Columbia University. He advocated the need for targeting of positive qualities of the people and was against the sole focus on evaluating human behavior and actions as symptoms leading to unfavorable outcomes. His theory was completely illustrated and explained in his book “Motivation and Personality”, published in 1954.

Foundation

This theory included the work on other psychological theories of human development, which include the theories focused on explaining the phenomena of human growth. He studied the famous personalities like Frederick Douglass, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jane Addams and Albert Einstein instead of focusing his research on non achievers or sick people. He also included the healthiest 1% population of students in his sample group.

Model

Figure 1: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, (retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org)

The need hierarchy shows the growth of motivation level of a person. The bottom of the pyramid represents the lower order needs, while the upper pyramid shows the higher level needs. People strive to fulfill the lower order needs, and on achievement of lower order needs; move on to achieve higher order needs. The top most needs of self actualization occur in very rare occasions as per Maslow, and people and busy in meeting the lower order needs.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Maslow's theory provided the ground for understanding of human needs and motivation. Based on this theory, many new theories emerged and still the basic of this theory provide a good understanding ...