Motivation Theories Flashcards
What is Theory X/Theory Y
Motivation is seen as absolutely irrelevant (Theory X) or absolutely critical (Theory Y) in the workplace.
Theory X leaders micromanage and coerce team members because they believe people do not like to work and must be strictly controlled and forced to work.
Theory Y leaders believe that employees dislike rigid controls and inherently want to accomplish something. Therefore, leaders apply a more participative style that empowers employees.
Theory Y is considered more appropriate in today’s knowledge-driven workplaces.
Needs Theory
Individuals are motivated by a desire to satisfy certain needs. Understanding these needs allows leaders to offer the right incentives and create the most motivational external environments. Common factors are achievement, a desire for social connection, and some degree of control.
Maslow
Its a needs theory
Five basic categories of needs must be met in an ascending order:
Physiological (basic needs related to survival)
Safety and security
Belonging and love (the need to belong, to be accepted)
Esteem (both self-esteem and admiration of others)
Self-actualization (the need to fill one’s potential)
A lower-level need must be relatively satisfied in order for a higher-level need to emerge or serve to motivate.
No need is ever totally satisfied, however. The lower-level needs will always have some influence on behavior.
Herzberg
its a needs Theory
Behavior is driven by intrinsic factors (innate desires) and extrinsic factors (workplace hygiene).
Intrinsic factors: challenging work, meaningful impact of work, recognition
Extrinsic factors: job security, pay, conditions
Satisfying hygiene factors can remove some areas of discontent that interfere with motivation, but satisfactory workplace conditions are not enough in themselves to create motivation.
Motivation is created by appealing to individual desires or needs.
In applying Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory, it is important to remember that while good workplace conditions do not positively affect motivation, unacceptable conditions will lead to job dissatisfaction and can make a motivated employee look for another job. Hygiene factor levels must be acceptable in order for the motivation factors to become operative.
McClelland
Its a needs theory
Individuals are motivated by three basic desires:
Achievement (accomplishment)
Affiliation (feeling part of a group)
Power (influence or control over others)
Employees have all three needs, but the needs’ relative importance may vary among individuals. Effective leaders identify and appeal to each employee’s primary motivators. For example:
Give an achievement-oriented employee an assignment that will require and call attention to the employee’s abilities.
Incorporate socialization events or opportunities into team schedules for affiliation-oriented employees.
Delegate to power-oriented employees tasks that they can control and direct, perhaps ones with high visibility in the organization.
Self-determination
Individuals are motivated by innate needs, such as competence (McClelland’s achievement) and relatedness (McClelland’s affiliation), but also by needs for:
Autonomy, or the need to feel that one has control over one’s life.
Purpose, or the sense that one’s actions have effects beyond the individual or the workplace.
Expectancy Theory
Effort increases in relation to one’s confidence that the behavior will result in a positive outcome and reward.
Vroom
its Expectancy Theory
Level of effort depends on:
Expectancy. (With reasonable effort, the employee can succeed.)
Instrumentality. (Success will result in a reward.)
Valence. (The reward is meaningful to the employee.)
All three factors must be addressed to create motivated employees.
Attribution Theory
The way a person interprets the causes for past success or failure is related to the present level of motivation. A leader can help employees attribute results to the correct causes and create opportunities for success.
Heider, Weiner
Success or failure can be attributed to internal factors (for example, skills, diligence) or external factors (for example, available resources, market events). Internal factors may be under the employee’s control (for example, the employee can work harder or be more careful), but external factors are probably beyond the employee’s control.
A track record of success can create empowered and resilient employees, while a track record of failure (even though the causes were external to the employee’s control) can create “learned helplessness” and even aggression or hostility in the workplace.
Leaders create opportunities for success for less-experienced employees, perhaps by providing more resources, coaching, and guidance. More-challenging assignments are given to employees who believe they can (and are likely to) succeed.
Goal-Setting Theory
Motivation can be increased by providing employees with goals against which they can assess their achievement.
Optimally, employees should be involved in designing goals and supported in achieving their goals.
Effective goals are:
Specific and clear.
Important to the individual. This enables greater commitment.
Realistic but challenging. Goals that are unrealistically high can harm motivation.
Feedback helps employees determine the effectiveness of their effort.
