ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

Organizational Behavior: Individual Work Motivation

Organizational Behavior: Individual Work Motivation

Organizational Behavior

Organizational behavior is the study and application of knowledge about how people are individual and group behavior in organizations. It also seeks to identify ways in which individuals can act more effectively. Organizational behavior helps entrepreneurs observe the behavior of individuals in the organization and facilitates the understanding of the complexity of the interpersonal relationships in which people interact.

Individual Work Motivation

To be successful at work, individuals need to be productive. To be productive, environmental factors such proper equipment and abilities must be present, but employees must also possess some level of motivation to perform tasks correctly. Motivation is the degree to which an individual wants and chooses to engage in certain specified behaviors (Smith, 2008). Both elements, the wanting and choosing, must be present for motivation to be enacted. For example, a person may want to start an exercise program or a vacation fund, but until he or she takes the initiative to exercise or save money, he or she is not truly motivated.

Theories of Motivation

There is a large body of research on the topic of employee motivation. Maslow's research suggests that a hierarchy of needs exists in all human beings. Levels in the hierarchy from the lowest level needs to highest-level needs are physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem, and self-actualization.

Maslow's Theory

Maslow's studies suggest that human beings motivated to meet each level of needs sequentially. That is to say, those individuals who cannot meet their basic survival (physiological) needs will not be motivated to meet the self-actualization needs until all levels in between are sufficiently met (Klein & Ritti, 2009). Maslow's need hierarchy theory lays the groundwork for subsequent work conducted on the topic of employee motivation. Some researchers challenge his theory, however, as overly simplistic. Benson and Dundis describe some criticisms. First, some individuals do not seek to fulfill higher levels of needs, but stop at some point in the hierarchy. Second, individuals may also seek to fulfill multiple levels of needs at the same time. Third, the five levels, do not adequately describe all individual needs. Although these criticisms may be valid, many believe in the general concepts of Maslow's work.

Frederick Herzberg's Theory

Herzberg followed Maslow in further developing understanding of employee motivation. He conducted studies in the 1950's and 1960's on the topic of motivation and job satisfaction. His findings reveal sources of job satisfaction that result ...